


As if she'd never happened

by chill_mee



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, The Heroes of Olympus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-15
Updated: 2013-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-01 15:49:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 70,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1045696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chill_mee/pseuds/chill_mee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Affie Williams was brought to Camp Half-Blood she had no idea what her destiny was. Destiny of love and fire kissed by the sweetest death. A story of unexpected happenstances, that does not interfere with the canon plot, taking place between the end of The Lost Hero and the beginning of The Mark of Athena.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The kidnapped girl

**Author's Note:**

> I tried my best to make it fit the canon plot, so if there are any small details that may interfere with the story, I immediately apologise. Hope you enjoy. Translations, if needed, are at the end of each chapter.

When this chick first came in, I had absolutely no idea what I'd done to make her mad. To be honest, I usually had no idea what I'd done to make _any_ girl mad, and they usually were after me for something I'd done to them. (Because they were never confident enough to confess their undying love for me, I guess). This chick in specific, however, I would've sworn on the Styx I'd done nothing to upset her, because, until that very second, I'd never seen her before in my entire life. And no way I could've ever met such a stunning girl like that one and forgotten her. _No freaking way_. Even so, I had spent the last few weeks almost all by myself, forging, bending, repairing, thinking, designing, creating and whatever else, you name it, for the Argo II. The deadline was still far away but Annabeth wasn't growing any more patient, and I knew I had no time to waste.

So yeah, I had no idea what she was doing in my cabin. She simply stormed in all furious —and, oh, so fearfully beautiful— and until Piper came in behind her asking her to ' _Please, calm down_ ' I didn't realise she was running _from_ someone rather than running towards me. It was kind of embarrassing, because I ducked out of reflex, and I ended up as a huge mess on the floor, after accidentally hitting some engines I'd been working on. It wasn't until I got up with my best face of 'yeah, I always do this, cool, huh?' that I realised they weren't paying attention to me at all, and the girl's expression was nothing like anger but frustration. Such a frustration, it had her near tears— I'd never been comfortable with crying girls. Rusty people skills. So I made my best attempt.

"Hey, babe, no need to be worried, Leo's here to help" was all I could manage to say. Piper gave me an angry look. Hey, I was just trying to help. The girl's face turned, though, and her eyes lit up. And, holy Hephaestus, what eyes. Right up until then, I had just made out her short, slim, pale figure. That and her straight hair which had a couple soft waves here and there, changing back and forth from black to light brown, as some sort of kaleidoscope made out of coal, cinnamon sticks and amber. But her eyes were pure solid raw rubies, no kidding. I mean, no real precious stones were in her eye sockets, but they might have as well been. Her eyes were pinkish red and shone with breathtaking intensity. I could almost feel her angst and the strange hope that, for some reason, invaded her when she noticed me.

"Leo?" She asked, as if wanting to confirm my identity, pronouncing it uncommonly right, as _Leh-oh_ instead of _Lee-o_ , as people usually did.

"The one and only" I agreed— and then she ran to me.

You know, when I say the ladies are crazy for me and stuff, I usually don't mean it literally. I simply mean they like me very, very much. But in that exact moment, it seemed nobody had notified her of that fact yet. She ran to me, hugged me, kissed me on the cheek, and started talking very fast in what took me some seconds to figure wasn't English nor Greek, but Spanish. She didn't have the Mexican accent my mother and family had, nor the accent I'd usually heard from some people I'd met from Puerto Rico, Costa Rica or Cuba. So when she finished talking, it took me a couple mississipis to take a breath, and stop myself from freaking out. Because, in case Piper there hadn't noticed, a shockingly good-looking girl had just been very relieved of seeing me, and had _kissed_ me. She kissed me, ladies and gentlemen. On the cheek, but she did.

"Uh, uhm, ah, ha" was the best I could manage at first, though. Very impressive. I cleared my throat. " _Uh, ¿podrías repetir eso que dijiste antes? Y un poco más lento, hace mucho que nadie me habla en español_.(1)" She looked like all the worry in her had been wiped away, and calm only made her even more beautiful. My Spanish skills were just a bit rusty, since the only person I could talk to in that language lately was myself. Piper looked at me stunned, and I didn't know whether it was because of my language skills or the fact that this girl seemed very familiar with me.

Then the girl introduced herself. She said she was Affie Williams —who gives a pretty girl such a weird name?— she knew _very poquito English_ (2) and had been kidnapped by some weird guy with hairy legs. She had been brought to camp and the pops in the big blue house had told her some Leo in the place could talk Spanish. She didn't know how had she understood that, cause she was pretty sure the pops hadn't been talking Spanish either. And then these girls, a worried blonde one (a.k.a. Annabeth) and the one with the _compelling voice_ , which I was sure was Piper, started talking to her pretty fast, and she simply didn't understand a thing. She'd grown more and more desperate until she asked 'Leo?' and Annabeth had brought her here, against Piper's wishes, because she tought it'd be more prudent trying to talk to her first, trying to cool her down, or at least so she thought they were saying.  _Great job with cooling her down, Pipes_ , I thought.

"What's she saying?" Piper asked.

"She just says she hates your hairstyle, Pipes." She dedicated me a dreadful look. "Okay, she said her name is Affie Williams, and she speaks no English. She wants you to stop harassing her and she wants some answers" I explained. "Why don't you let her hang around here for a while so I can answer her questions?" It was no big deal taking care of such a pretty girl. Specially one who seemed to like me so much.

Piper gave me a suspicious look, and then sighed. "Okay, Romeo. I guess it's no use if she can't understand what we're saying— don't try anything, though. She hasn't been claimed yet, she could be anyone's sister, even yours." And so, she took her leave.

 

After Piper words I wasn't so confident anymore. So yeah, Affie seemed comfortable around me and everything, but I guess anyone would be if I were the only one they could talk to. She'd kissed me too, true, but in Latin America that was a normal every-day, any-person thing, so it was no big deal, at least for her. We talked for a while about her arrival and everything. She had been with her mom walking through Central Park when one of our satyrs spotted her and brought her to camp— she was sixteen, so apparently the satyr had thought he had no time to waste. She was on vacations. I had created several wireless, remote-controlled toys when dinner time came and we had to get out. By then, she had already taken in the most important stuff such as being a demigod and having an immortal parent. Also, she'd discovered she was pretty good with Greek, so she no longer needed to ask me to be her translator. I maybe would've ended up hating the job, but I didn't even get a shot as such. On the other hand, I discovered I had wasted my afternoon in toys instead of the Argo II. Annabeth would kill me, if I didn't kill myself first.

The rest of my siblings met me at the dining pavilion. Affie thanked me and jogged to her brand new place at the Hermes' table. When she left, she wasn't scared nor confused anymore, so I could catch a glimpse of her true personality: independent, cheerful, strong, smart. I felt a little abandoned when she took off so immediately and with such ease, but I guess that was unavoidable. She didn't look like someone who stayed for long, not ever. Dinner went smoothly, but I couldn't stop myself from staring from time to time at the Hermes' table, where everybody laughed and talked lively with their guest. Affie's hair gleamed almost as bronze would've under the sundown's light. That night, at campfire, it was most likely for her to be claimed by her godly parent. Since I'd been told her mother was very mortal, non-godly human, I couldn't help but hear Piper's voice in my head. The idea of Affie being my sister somehow tortured me. She couldn't be, could she? Even so, I have to admit I prayed to Hephaestus for her not to be my sister, when I dropped my share of food as my offering into the hearth.

"Hey, Hephaestus, you know, you probably are busy with Gaea stuff and whatever, and the gods have gone silent and all but, uhm, could you make her not my sister? Like, if she is, sort of go back in time and make her not yours? I'd really appreciate that." I'm not very sure why, but having her as my sister would've made me very uncomfortable, so the words had come out before I could really think them. I was feeling pretty blue, playing with my food, when Nyssa asked me if there was something wrong.

"Nothing at all, just wondering whether it's possible to make food from celestial bronze, I starve working on the Argo II all day." They all looked at me like I was crazy and then laughed, and I laughed with them as well. Right, being silly and funny was easier than being lost in thought. Had forgotten it for a second there. But just for an instant, I could've sworn catching Affie staring at me from the corner of her eye. Of course, I must've imagined it, because the next time I looked in her direction she was deep in conversation with her temporary cabinmates. Yet, in my imagination, her red eyes had been staring intensely, like they could see right through me, like she could see I wasn't being sincere by laughing and joking with my brethren. That scared me a bit.

* * *

**Translations:  
** 1.Uh, could you repeat what you said before? And a bit slower, it's been a while since the last time I got to speak Spanish.  
2.very little English.


	2. Daughter of Love

The couple hours we had between dinner and campfire were filled with general excitement and a lot of murmuring. It took me a while, and Piper's explanation, to understand what it all was about. It seemed like Affie had turned out to become quite popular at camp very quickly. Apparently, sitting at the Hermes' table got her a lot of attention from several guys. The Stoll brothers had been announcing they had found the girl for having a trio although they were just kidding, unlike some other guys at camp. It made me angry somehow that they all gave her so much attention. I didn't like it. Piper had come up to me right after dinner, which was a bit unusual, given the fact she had recently became Jason's girlfriend, and she rarely left his side. She was in a pretty good mood and, if I had to take a guess, I'd say it was due to the fact she'd made plans with Jason or something. She'd also been able to talk to Affie. When the new girl was able to speak with Piper without feeling frustrated for not understanding her, the conversation went pretty swiftly.

 "So, Romeo" Piper had caught up with me as we were leaving the dining pavilion. "How was your afternoon?" I grinned.

"It went great, except for the fact you cockblocked me, so I just had a really long conversation" I admitted.

"Oh, I thought... well, she seemed quite comfortable around you."

"As comfortable as if we were family, apparently. You ruin my style, Pipes."

"Oh, don't call me like that." She said, before giving me an apologetic smile. It wasn't her fault, though. As we walked, we went by several girls from her brethren, who seemed strangely enthusiastic to see me. Don't get me wrong, they were  _always_  enthusiastic to see me, it's just that they normally knew really well how to hide it.

"Uh, what's up with 'em, Pipes? Did they finally figure out they need to be my girlfriends?" I asked, a little uncomfortable. Having all those girls looking at me made me feel awkwardly in-the-spotlight and over self-conscious.

She seemed worried, though. She looked at me with what I recognised as... wait, was that pity? "Uhm, Leo, I think we need to talk a bit, do you mind? I know you're busy with the Argo II and everything, but it'll just take a few minutes."

You see, this is why I don't get girls. Weren't we talking just now? But no, apparently we weren't, because now the conversation was going to start. That thing before? That was chit chat, the friendly approach, small talk. The introduction, whatever you call it. "Yeah, why not?" Was what I told her, though. Having her answering those questions would only make her mad.

"You see, Leo, the rumour she spent the whole afternoon with you has already spread. Also, the rumour that even with a whole afternoon you weren't able to make an effective move on her. But those are just the girls from my cabin making mean comments, they're just jealous of the attention everybody's giving Affie. Although one thing is true. You shouldn't keep your hopes up for her, Leo." She said all this with a friendly expression, the one you expect to see on your elder sister's face when she's explaining to you you are grounded for breaking a plate, or that you cannot have the toy you've been craving for months. Maybe that was what made me mad. Maybe it was the fact she was treating me like a little boy. Maybe it was Affie.

"Why? Because she's completely out of my league? You think I don't know that, Pipes? I only play dumb, you know."

I knew she was just trying to protect me, but I couldn't stop myself, so I just walked down to my cabin. More Aphrodite girls stepped on my way, but I just ignored them. So annoying. I wanted to be alone for a while. It was in these kind of moments I wanted Festus to be my bronze dragon again and not just a bronze figurehead I had to make part of the Argo II. When I reached the cabins' field I realised I was steaming. I got heated up. That's when I saw it. Better said, that's when I saw _her_. She was talking with Lou Ellen, from the Hecate cabin, when Will Solace, from cabin seven, walked up to them. He said something and both girls laughed, and then Lou took her leave— Affie was evidently uncomfortable with her leaving. They walked around, and soon she was leaning against the Apollo cabin (I followed them without even thinking about it), talking with him, standing in front of her. She looked really stunning in the dark. Gods, who am I kidding, she'd looked perfect during all day, under any kind of illumination. She was smiling to him, in a  _very different_  way she had smiled to me that afternoon. Her ruby eyes seemed purplish in the dark, and Will had probably noticed that too, because he didn't seem able to rest his sight on any other thing but them. It looked like she was bewitching him somehow. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but once I heard what they were saying, it was impossible for me to walk away.

"It would be a shame if you turned out to be my sis, Affie... although you could easily be, since you're so pretty."

Affie looked down, a bit of shyness I'd never thought her capable of invading her expression. Also, some sort of disappointment. "I wouldn't say so..."

"Modest, too. Let's just hope you're a daughter of Aphrodite. Although they might be a little mean since they were pretty jealous of you during dinner."

She simply smiled. "I can't believe they would be. They're all quite gorgeous." She looked up to him and smiled. "And if you continue like that, I'll start to believe all guys on the Apollo cabin are pros at flirting." She put a lock of her hair behind her ear, and I could notice she had pierced her left ear twice. A little blue ball on the auricle, and a small black ring on the helix. "Come on, let's just hope for the best. I'm gonna go change." She pointed to her stained light blue shirt and her ripped jeans. "Better to blend in with the rest of you. If everything goes as everyone suspects, I'll have a cabin of my own by tonight."

Will looked disappointed, but if she noticed, she didn't care, which made me a little less blue, after such a scene. When I noticed Will was walking right in my direction, I had just a couple seconds to hide or make it look like I never saw them. I managed to do both, although I couldn't help feeling angry. What had Will done for her to treat him so nicely? Having good looks wasn't a great merit after all.  _But it usually has its way with the ladies_ , a voice in my head reminded me. I started walking to my cabin as I originally intended, when she spotted me.

"Hey, Leo!" She told me. Even though it was Greek, she still pronounced my name with a Latin-American accent. I didn't know whether to hate or like the way she said it.

"Hey" I said, looking away. I just couldn't meet her eyes. She looked up to me, which definitely was a thing, because not many girls in camp were shorter than me, and that's saying a lot. Her smile struck me, but I noticed with a bit of bitterness the confidence in it, so different from the cute shyness she'd gifted Solace. She grabbed my arm and pulled forwards softly, walking towards the Hermes cabin. I tried to pull away covertly, but it didn't work.

"Thanks for helping me earlier, it really made it easier for me to wrap my mind about things talking in my mother tongue."

"I guess you manage in Greek pretty good as well. It seems you didn't have any problems communicating before." I couldn't help blurt out. So much for my attempt of making it look like I never saw a thing. _Stupid, stupid brain_.

"What do you... oh" when she realised what was I talking about, she blushed. Her face was nearly as red as her eyes, which shone with some sort of guilt. "That was nothing—"

"Oh, so that's what they call it nowadays." I joked, looking at her playfully, a mocking grin on my face. It's easier to pretend. Yet her expression switched from embarrassment to some kind of concern.

"Don't do that" she pleaded, deadly serious.

"Do what?"

"Do _that_. Don't pretend. You're hiding, using your jokes and smile as disguise. Be sincere." I seriously didn't understand how could she tell so easily I wasn't being myself in front of her, but it made me feel exposed and confused. It was dreadful... knowing she could understand so easily the way of my emotions. It caused me almost... fright? No, that wasn't the exact word. But it made me very wary of her, for some reason. I looked away from her.

"You are scared" she guessed. "They always are. People don't like my eyes. They won't meet them for long, unless they are trying to hit on me, which is no better. You were different... or so I thought until now." She confessed, and I felt my heart sink. That wasn't what had happened. Yet I didn't know how to answer her. It wasn't her eyes, it was the way she could see me without my walls, how easily she could identify all my feelings, tearing down my usual scheme.

"It isn't like that, Affie... your eyes are very meet-able, I just feel... nervous somehow. Anyways, I don't know how to..." she was looking at me, mockingly, and I wasn't sure anymore if what she'd said before was serious stuff or not. Gods, she was driving me insane. "You're terrible." I told her.

"I've been told so many times. Yet each time under different circumstances. I'm glad this is the one in which you tell me so. Now I don't have to worry." She explained, opening the door to the Hermes cabin.

"Worry about what?" I had to ask. In retrospective, I still don't know why I felt the urgency to ask that. Maybe part of me knew.

She smiled with attractive playfulness in her lips. "Breaking your heart." If not for her incredibly sad eyes, I would've believed she was simply flirting or joking. But those eyes left me with no clue of what to make of it.

 

Affie didn't ask me to wait for her, but I figured it'd be nicer than to let her walk herself to the campfire, although it was difficult to get lost, since it was in the middle of the cabin field. For some reason, I completely ditched the possibility of her going by herself, having it such an obvious location. Can you believe it? While I was waiting, Jason passed by. He was coming from the Aphrodite cabin, where I figured he had just left Piper, who was probably feeling bad about making me mad or something. He might've been on his way to talk to me, cause he was walking towards my cabin when he saw me. She must've told him about it.

"Hey man" he told me, knocking his head slightly to one side as if for saying hello.

"Hey" I told him.

"So, already lost the battle?" He asked, very casually. How did he do that? It took me a lot of work to look casual, and I never managed to be at such ease as Jason.

"I actually chose not to fight it. Otherwise I would've won long ago. I don't like to compete when winning is so easy. I like challenges."

"I understand. Well, I'm glad you're okay. Gonna tell Piper not to worry so much."

"Is she alright? I was a bit hard on her before, you know, when—" I didn't get to finish. Affie had just came out of the cabin, and we went speechless. Even Jason. She had tied a couple locks of her hair with a pink hairpin that looked life a flower. Her orange camp shirt had been cut around the neck, changing the classic round neckline for a square one. The sewing seemed so perfect you could've sworn the shirt was originally made like that. The rest of her hair hang loose, her ends brushing impatiently her shoulders and collarbone. She was wearing denim shorts as most girls in camp, but she also had put on a denim jacket, which suited her perfectly. I felt horrified when I noticed I had never been able to concentrate on anything for so long before, except for the Argo II and stuff, and much less on what anyone was wearing. The idea I had spent the last few mississippis appreciating her clothing made me snap out of it.

"You look..." I started, but, what could I say? 'You look great'? It didn't look like it had taken her a lot of work to put on those clothes. Jason restrained himself to an admiration whistle.

"I should better go to the Aphrodite cabin to pass on the news. If I don't warn them, they might attempt to throw you into the campfire." _Great_ , I thought. Now even Jason, who already has a girlfriend, was hitting on her. Affie blushed.

"Uhm, thanks, I guess." She grabbed my arm and pulled me away. "You didn't have to wait for me, you know."

"Oh, but I wanted to." I blurted out. "I mean, uhm, I thought it would be rude to leave you there and—" she smiled.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Valdez."

The walk from there to the campfire wasn't exactly long, yet I managed to ask her a couple things about herself, like, where was she from, and a bit about her family. She had a little half-sister and a stepdad. Her stepdad had married her mother before she was born, so she inherited his surname, Williams. As for where was she from, she simply answered: south. South where? No idea. She could be from Miami or New Mexico, or she could come from the Caribbean Islands, Peru or Uruguay. I'd known right away she wasn't Spanish, but I still couldn't make out where exactly was she from.

When we arrived at the campfire she kissed me on the cheek as a 'see ya', and left, just like that. I somehow noticed at some point between the walk and the kiss I might've been so deep in the friendzone, I'd already drowned there. How exciting. The other option was she really liked me but, come on, what were the odds for that.

We sang around the campfire, the flames deep purple, casting long queer shadows behind us. She'd arrived just a couple hours ago, but somehow I couldn't help staring at her, even when all she did was talk and laugh with Lou Ellen and Will Solace, and occasionally with some other people from different cabins. The singing died eventually, and Chiron came up front to tell us about the recruiting of volunteers for picking up strawberries the next day, since they needed extra help. No hands raised. Then a small, delicate hand with long and thin fingers lifted up. It was Affie's. Everybody gasped. What if she was a daughter of Dionysus? Some pity looks went and came. Some girls from the Aphrodite cabin giggled with cruel satisfaction. And then, it happened. She gleamed with a beautiful pinkish red light, similar to her eye color, and a very gooey heart appeared upon her head. Silence fell upon everybody around the fire, and Chiron knelt.

"Hail Áfua Williams, daughter of Eros, lord of love and hearts." Chiron stated, and before I could think on what a weird name choice Áfua was, right in front of me, I could see how Will leaned over Affie and kissed her desperately, like he had suddenly noticed he needed her more than he needed to breathe. Lou Ellen was shocked, and looked as if she might try to interfere. For a second there, Affie stood motionless, and I could've almost sworn she would retreat. But when she grabbed his shirt from over his chest to pull him closer, everything went dark. As if from far away, I heard soft surprise screams, and something cracked.


	3. First flame

I woke up in the Aphrodite cabin, next to some girl it took me a couple secs to recognise as Piper. The cabin was incredibly neat and organised, all perfectly balanced: shapes, numbers, colours. Everything on its exact place. It kind of freaked me out a bit. I have never been the perfectly organised type. I liked order, but I wasn't very strict with myself on that, and my mother wasn't an order freak either. The thought of her made me remember all of a sudden the events of the day before. It all seemed to have happened through several days, yet all of them were part of the same day.

 

I had been kidnapped by what, back then, I thought was a guy with excessively hairy legs who, I learnt later, was actually a satyr. I was a demigod. My mother hadn't just been dumped, she'd been left because my dad had godly duties and a godly wife to attend. That didn't make me feel any better about him. If my mother hadn't married my stepdad, Fred, her life might've been miserable, and so might've been mine. So I was a half-blood, and I was in Camp Half-Blood, the only safe place on Earth for demigods not to get killed by monsters and stuff. I could speak  _Greek_. So much for my english teacher, who always told me I was useless for learning a second language.  _There you have, mean lady_ , celebrated my inner voice. I had discovered I could talk Greek thanks to... oh my gods, Leo. He had been so nice to me the whole afternoon and I was so grateful to him, it hit me really hard when I saw the incredibly sad look in his eyes last night. He seemed so broken, and I had felt so helpless about him. I really, really liked Leo; to be honest, I had a huge crush on him. Although, after all the mud lady had said, I was so afraid of hurting him. She had told me I was going to go to a camp on a hill, I would find someone who would talk like me, and I'd smash him. Maybe she'd said it differently, but her Spanish was terrible, seriously. I thought she was crazy at first, a ragged old lady on the streets who scared the living hell out of me when she grabbed my wrist on my way back to the hotel three nights ago, but something in her voice advised me not to think of her words as meaningless. And then almost all of it had come true in one single day. I had met Leo, who was so handsome, and so nice. All I could think of was the constant sadness in his eyes, and how there was nothing I could do to help it. In fact, I was supposed to only make it worse. And when I got claimed by Eros, I got this terrible feeling I was going to break Leo's heart in the worst possible way, even when I had assured him I wouldn't.

Then, there was Will. He was really nice and I liked him, yet not in a romantic way. I don't want to sound as one of those girls constantly inclined to fall in love. That was not it. Nor it was me being a slut playing with all boys I liked. Actually, before the campfire, I didn't want to kiss Will. He was good-looking, nice and I felt attracted to him, but I felt nothing else. I could tell he was not really into me, either. I still didn't quite understand what made me want to kiss him back last night. At first, I felt surprised, and I even felt the urge to pull back but, all of a sudden, I saw myself kissing him back. It was like one of those terrible omniscient dreams, where you watch yourself doing things, while you scream hopelessly, unable to change the course of things.

The only thing I'd done right the previous day was Lou Ellen. Lou had came up to me when dinner was done. We chatted for a while and I was shocked to discover how incredibly nice she was— considering how all people in camp seemed a bit weary of Hecate's children. I hoped for her not to hate on me for what I'd done, but when we talked before going to sleep, she didn't. She said she was cool with it.

"Those Barbies from Aphrodite have been going after Will forever, good for you to free him."

Although what Lou told me afterwards didn't make me feel any better. She told me Leo had been standing there for a while after everybody had left, with that sad look he had given me, right after I kissed Will, still imprinted on his face. That had made my heart ache, but I did my best to hide it. I told myself that Leo had no romantic interest for me, but I did not want to accept that either. It's incredible how much you can get to know certain people in a couple hours. I've spent several years with some people, and somehow I felt closer to Leo than to any of them.

I didn't want to get out of bed. If I did, I would have to face the day. I would have to start putting furniture in my cabin, in which I hadn't slept last night because it was completely empty, and it was a simple wooden structure, awaiting for the first child of some god they hadn't made a cabin for (aka Eros) to modify it according to its godly parent. And that child was me. Apparently Eros was pretty much faithful to Psyche most of the time, so his children were rare and not very frequent— something like one every couple of centuries, or so. And two hundred years ago, the last time there was a sibling demigod to me, non-Olympian gods had no cabins of their own for their children. I just wanted to disappear. Become a beautiful butterfly, like Psyche, and make company to Leo whenever he seemed sad and lonely.  _You look sad when nobody is looking at you_ , I had thought when I first saw that expression on his face, the one of sorrow and despair, during dinner.

Piper woke up next to me. She had offered to sleep with me after some girls in the Aphrodite cabin had claimed they wanted to invite me stay in their cabin since we were 'almost sisters' and whatsoever, but none of them would let me sleep with them. She blinked a couple times, and it was incredible how she managed to look beautiful even when she'd just woken up. She was different from the other girls in the Aphrodite cabin. She wore no make up, and didn't seem as worried of her looks as the rest, although she was just as stunning as all her brethren.

"Hi" she said, her morning voice sleepy but somehow soft and delicate, glamorous. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I was really comfortable, thanks" I told her, before she smiled to me, like saying  _I know what you're thinking, I'm not mad at you for what happened last night_.

Eventually, all the cabin was up, taking showers and cleaning up the mess (was there any?) and everybody was getting ready for cabin inspection. I took notice of the guys sleeping behind a curtain, all of them quite handsome, but also a bit narcissistic, constantly checking their hair, and flexing their arms to see if they were built up enough. I thought the faster I got out of there, the better. Piper was nice, but excluding her, there were only two or three more people in the cabin who were truly nice. The rest pretty much sucked.

I had breakfast alone in a new table they had set up for me, since apparently no one had thought there could be any other children of Eros, or any other minor gods besides the ones they'd already considered, for that matter. Only two other guys were having breakfast on their own, although I could feel as if there was someone missing. An empty table that shouldn't be empty. As I was leaving the dining pavilion, Lou walked up to me, giving me a funny smirk like saying 'Hey girl, time to play some pranks.'

"So, I came to show you around. I guess no one has properly shown you the camp yet. Specially due to your language issues yesterday. I bet that golden boy Will Solace never cared to do so." She joked, but I didn't laugh. Will's topic was mine zone, since I didn't know what to do of it. She nodded comprehensively, as if she knew what was I thinking about and understood. That was when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Will Solace. He hadn't seen me yet, but it wouldn't take long for that to change. I must've had a pretty terrified expression, because Lou took action almost immediately.

"So yeah, I must show you around." She said, a little louder than necessary. She wasn't really good at covert for obvious things, but I was grateful for the intention. By the time Will had noticed I was going to lose all morning between my tour and the strawberry picking, I was long gone.

Lou showed me the volleyball courts, the Big House, the canoe lake, the amphitheater and the climbing wall; and although everything seemed between breathtaking dangerous or beautiful, my heart wasn't really into admiring the camp. She must've realised that, because we moved quickly to the arena and the forges. When we walked past them, I wondered whether Leo was in there, with his brethren.

As if reading my thoughts, Lou shook her head. "He spends most of his time working in the woods. Yesterday was a lucky thing you found him in his cabin."

"What is he doing in the woods?"

"A flying trireme, if the gods allow it. I'm not supposed to know, but they've needed my help a couple of times. Magic is necessary sometimes, you know."

"Cool." I sighed. I must have had a pretty dreamy expression, because Lou let go of a soft laugh. She was so nice and easygoing I thought I could ask her a couple out-of-the-tour questions. Concerns I'd been accumulating along the tour, things that just popped in my mind. The kind of ridiculous things only your mother usually cares about but they end up to be important.

"I was wondering, since everything here is so different and all... what do you do with depilation? I mean, I'm pretty sure you can't just go to the city for waxing or whatever so...?" She smiled, about to crack up.

"Sorry" she apologised gasping for air. "Just that I think you're the first girl to come up with the important details right away. Most of them freak out about it when they already have the problem. Alright. Usually girls plea to a child of Aphrodite but you have to either be besties with them or you gotta be willing to become a slave for a week or so. Obviously, if you know who to ask and you are willing to pay, you can get it from the outside. Lucky for you, since we have a cabin of our own, we have a cosmetic line of potions and stuff. But it isn't all that easy."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, perfect legs for thirty days in a bottle sounds pretty dreamy, but it ain't. You have to endure a pain equal to twice the waxing pain. Bearable, but unpleasant. If you wanna go through it, is all yours. Just keep an eye on the deadline. You don't wanna go a day without the potion effect after you've started taking it. You'll become some sort of Chewbacca." I laughed, so did she. Okay, so one problem solved.

"What about periods? I mean a lot of action goes around here, it's not like you can just excuse yourself like 'I'm sorry, I can't swim, I'm on my most special days, I don't believe the naiads will appreciate it if I...' you know? What do you use? Tampons?"

"Yeah. It's a torture at the beginning, but you get used to it. Most of us also take potions, because they reduce the amount of days you gotta wear those things." I thought they would have some sort of magic spell for not having to deal with it, but I guess you can't go against mother nature. At least now I wouldn't have to worry about those things anymore, I already knew how to deal with them at camp.

After the forges, we came into the armoury. Lou seemed pretty bored about it, but she was clearly looking forward checking if she could choose the right weapon for the child of Eros, being I a rare specimen and all that. I hated the idea of being a miracle between gods and humans, but I hated even more being some sort of limited edition. First, she asked me if I had ever fought with any weapons in the past. My obvious answer was no, but then I remembered the wooden sword fights I would have with my cousins when I was little. Did that count? I wasn't sure, so I didn't tell her a thing about it. She glanced, though, at a beautiful silvery blade. She shook her head. She went deeper into the armoury and came back with a bow and an empty quiver. The bow was incredibly beautiful, made of some pale wood and delicately carved drawings of leaves and blooming lilies on its surface. I liked lilies, my mom knew a lot about flowers, and she told me once lilies were a symbol of love. A tenderer one than roses. I could tell it was a rather basic design, not a very complicated weapon, it had a leather grip on the centre and the quiver was made of marble or something, if I wasn't mistaken. Yet, when I took it on my hands, it was as light as if it had been made of cardboard. Even though it was a magnificent set, something told me it wasn't meant for doing just the right thing.

"You know, that's no regular weapon" she explained. "Even when Eros was given cult in some places, he was greater between the romans, yet never worshipped by them. Cupid is more popular, isn't he? That's because greeks usually blamed all love problems on Aphrodite, even if it was her son the one causing trouble. Of course, most of the time, Eros was just following orders from the other gods, taking revenges for them with his bow and arrows. The one who made this bow, was trying to make a replica of Artemis' but when he figured the goddess might find that offensive (a mere mortal trying to craft her weapon), he changed in the middle of his crafting to make it look as much as possible as Eros'. He still was turned into a pig or something, but that was just Apollo finding outrageous the crafter never attempted to make a replica of _his_ bow." She finished with an expression which meant  _gods_  the way you would say 'men, they're all the same, and they never change'. "Shoot" she instructed me, pointing a target on one of the walls.

"I have no arrows" I told her, thinking how strange it was she hadn't noticed so.

"Just put on the quiver and take out an arrow and shoot" she insisted.

I did what she said. I put on the quiver, and grabbed the bow with my right hand. I felt that déjà vu sensation when I lifted the bow and pulled my left arm back to pick an arrow. At first, there was nothing, as I expected, but a second later, I found myself touching a stick and pulling it out, until a beautiful arrow was on my hand, ready to be shot. I tensed the bowstring and let go. It was the best feeling ever. I probably looked pretty funny, since I didn't know how to stand or grab anything the right way, yet Lou was staring at me in awe.

"Impressive" she said. "The name of that bow is  _Kardiocht_ _ýpi_ , which means 'heartbeat'. I guess you know how the quiver works. If you make arrows of your own, and put them in there, you'll never lose them. Even after shot. They'll just return to you."  _How cool_ was all I got to think. I felt a little embarrassed when I noticed I was acting like a little girl but, so far, this was one of the best things that had happened to me since I had come to camp. Everything felt unknown and alien to me, but when I shot that arrow, everything had fallen on its very place, at least for a second.

"I love it" I told Lou, and then I forced myself to look at the target to see how I'd done. It was a perfect shot. And somehow, I could tell that it was in the perfect centre, not a millimetre wrong. That scared me a bit.

We walked out the armoury, but I felt different. I felt as if some before lost part of me had been taken back to me. Yet my incredible aim had made fear cut deep in me. And being scared of yourself is never a good thing. I thought of that all morning, while picking strawberries.

 

I walked back to my cabin by myself. Now there was a bed inside, over the polished, impeccable, pale wooden floor. I figured it would take me a couple days to be done with the decoration and everything, so I left my bow and quiver over the floor as I came in and I fell onto the bed, exhausted. Soon there'd be lunch, but until then I was free. Since I was supposed to take care of fixing my cabin, I wouldn't have to attend any camp activities unless I wanted to. In two days I'd have to set a activity scheme with Chiron, but I'd worry about that later. I came out of the cabin a couple minutes after collapsing onto my bed, wanting to go to the shore, see if I could think things through. But those things did not seem able to wait for me to reach the beach, because just as I was going down the little staircase in the porch-like entrance of my cabin, I saw dark wavy hair and pointy ears at one side of my cabin. Leo. It looked like he had come without having made up his mind, because he was shifting back and forth, his back facing me, his hands tapping restlessly his pants at both sides.

"Leo?" I asked. He turned around, completely surprised, and when he saw me, he frowned and tried to walk away. I managed to stop him, grabbing him by his wrist. "Leo, wait. I need to talk to you."

He faced me, but he didn't seem interested in talking to me. His internal struggle wasn't done yet, and the option of letting me lose him, as a friend or whatever, looked like the winning one. I didn't seem to be making that option any damage by appearing right then. His eyes showed me he was hurt, and for the first time ever, I wished he would pretend he was fine.

"What do you want?" He asked, clearly making a great effort for saying it.

"I just wanted to explain..."

"Jeez, you know something, Williams? I usually don't get girls, but you don't make it any easier. What do you wanna explain? Last night events? You owe me no explanations for that. I'm no one to tell you who to date. You're free to make your own choices."

"If that's so, why are you mad then..."

"I'm not mad." You know, before that, I was worried I might have wounded him somehow. I was afraid of losing his trust or his friendship, or both. I liked Leo, alright, I had a huge crush on him. But that gave him no right to be such a jerk about it. I hadn't realised that by then, a couple curious faces were surrounding us.

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not!" His cheeks were red. And he was steaming. Like, literally steaming.

"Oh my gods, Valdez! If you wanna be mad about it, be mad, but I told you to stop this faking nonsense! I didn't want to kiss Will, I know it's a shitty excuse, but I simply wasn't able to control the situation!"

His expression shifted to one that read  _unbelievable_. "You kissed him back!" By then, Leo was burning with rage. But I'm not trying to sound poetic, he was  _literally_  burning with rage. Everybody gasped. I was too angry to stand back just because the guy had went all 'Flame on!' mode.

"So you  _are_  mad about it."

"Williams, I couldn't care less."

"That's so much for someone who's turned himself into the Human Torch. You know what, Valdez?  _Ándate a la mierda*_. I'm done with you here." I stormed out, leaving a lot of puzzled expressions, some people wondering what had I said, some others wondering whether they'd have to call the firefighters for extinguishing Leo's body. I walked towards the beach, where I originally intended to go. Stupid, stupid Leo. Didn't he see I really didn't care for Will at all? It was all a confusion and I still didn't understand how I could have kissed Will the night before. Probably Aphrodite didn't like me. Probably my father was resentful of my existence. Blaming my problems on the gods didn't make them any easier to deal with. I missed my mother; she always had an answer for everything, a solution for any problem. What did she believe had happened to me? Was she alright? Was there anything I could do for contacting her? I really missed her.

* * *

 

**Translations:**

*It literally means 'go to shit' (as if shit were a place) but that's not an accurate translation. 'Go to hell' or 'fuck you' are more accurate.


	4. Tough girl

The beach was empty. It had a soft breeze that gave the place a perfectly nice temperature. The waves crushed silently, somehow sadly. I felt like the ocean wanted to cry, and maybe it was the sadness of the sea that hit me, but I started crying as well. I lifted my hands to wipe the tears. No use for a crying baby. Not here, not now, not anywhere, not ever. But then I realised I was alone, and something in the salty sea tears hat the breeze helped hit my face, told me no one ever came to the shore. At least, not of late. _Not since that boy Percy has gone missing_ , I guessed. Lou had told me enough about it.

I sat and cried. I didn't know exactly what for. I thought I had been wanting to cry since the satyr took me away from my mother, but I would let no one see me cry. Sadness was not an emotion I could easily share. Why was my dad a god? Did that mean I had some sort of superpowers? Because if I had, being the child of Eros, they probably were some really lame ones, like super-cutesy-winking and never-fading kiss marks. Maybe I could make it so that cherry blossoms let go of their flowers, as if it were the most iconic scene in anime. Any anime.

"Not at all, child" a beautiful, singing-like voice told me. It's beyond question the woman who had suddenly appeared next to me scared me to death. I couldn't quite make out her shape. She had long black, glossy hair; and ghostly pale skin. Shiny onyx eyes. I somehow knew it couldn't be true, but I gasped.

"Mummy?" I asked, and the second the word left my lips I knew she wasn't my mother. She was wearing perfect make up and some really expensive perfume. My mother never wore make up, she didn't need it. And she only wore lily water, no other scent nor perfume.

"No, sweetie, but I'm flattered. Mothers are usually the most beautiful women in the world for their children, so thinking I look like her is compliment enough for me, my dear." I thought a little harder, but her image shifted a bit and went back to look like my mum.

"Aphrodite." I stated. I was sure. I'd had my bit of Greek mythology, since I loved all fantasy novels and stories; and Greek myths were a must. Although, as things had turned out, those weren't myths anymore.

"Well, aren't you smart, my dear? Yes, I am Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation. Often blamed by the actions of your father. Do you know why?"

"Uh, because they think you plan all love affairs since you're the goddess of love?"

"Yes, quite. But thing is, I'm the goddess of love in its ways of beauty and pleasure. Your father, on the other hand, is the god of the love that attracts and desires."

I looked at my nails, nervously. "Are you telling me my father is the god of sex or what?" There was no way of saying it in a more maidenly way, so I just let it out.

Aphrodite laughed, and I was struck to notice even her laugh was gorgeous. "My girl, attraction and desire are not just about sex. Love is a mix of them. When you feel attracted to someone, and when you desire someone, are two different situations, but when they both happen at the same time towards the same person, you might say you're in love."

I thought about it for a while, but I didn't agree. Maybe attraction, desire, pleasure and beauty were factors that had a role to play in love but, at least for me, love itself wasn't about them. It was about caring, about giving it all. It was about the sincere need to see the other one happy, wasn't it? I didn't tell Aphrodite so, though. I thought maybe my opinion might be a bit unpopular, and so far I thought it better to stay in good terms with the goddess.

"Do you know what happened last night? Why I kissed Will even when I..." I couldn't finish the question, the anger filled me again, knowing Leo had been pretending so hard he didn't care. Or maybe he finally wasn't faking, and that was what made me angry instead.

"When you like that Leo boy?" She finished for me. The face she made while saying Leo's name spoke by itself.  _I don't know what do you see in him_. I was pretty sure my face was completely red. "Yes, that's part of the claiming, intense attraction. My children may inherit charmspeak, but Eros'... they turn to go a bit straighter to the point. You saw how it worked earlier that night."

"Earlier that night...?" Oh, she meant when I was talking to Will next to his cabin. We had actually started talking because Lou left us alone (traitor). Such a smooth move, Will did not realise at all. I also thought it weird because so far I wouldn't have though Will had _any_ interest in me. He asked me whether I was the new girl and we got caught up on a conversation about pasta. It wasn't romantic at all, very friendly, right up until the moment I started wondering whether I could find Leo again.

"You know, those are some of your powers. People say love is powerless, meaningless, useless, and lame. But they all say that because they are resentful of it in one way or another. You have to learn to control your emotions, sweetheart. Otherwise, you'll continue messing with other people's feelings. What you spread, is what will come back to you. You were bursting with so much excitement and dreamy happiness after your afternoon with a charming boy, it hit Will pretty hard. I guess after the claiming, he couldn't fight the urge of having you. You gave in because it's your nature. Letting people love you, making them believe they are corresponded. Fleeing afterwards so they can't blame it on you." I stared at the goddess in speechless horror. Was she telling me I could make anyone want to be with me, and I'd let them kiss me or do even worse things because that was my nature? She must have been kidding me. That was so, so not me. But then again, Will _had_ kissed me, and I gave in. I gave in and the morning after I avoided him instead of coming out clear as I should have.

 _No_ , I thought.  _I will prove her wrong_. I was mad, very mad. Maybe I should have thought better of it, calm down, take a deep breath. But that... woman, she was telling me I was some sort of will-less puppet, and I only had to gave in completely to my true self and become the camp's whore. And there we had a huge disagreement. Maybe my 'charm' made me kiss Will, but there was no way that had something,  _anything_  to do with Leo or any guy I'd ever liked.

"You're wrong. About love, about me, about everything. The eons have taught you wrong because maybe, after all this time, you haven't truly loved once. You mistake love for lust, and that's a terrible error."

"Watch your words girl, I do not forget those who offend me, nor am I merciful with my punishments."

"Save your threats for the ones who are scared of you. I do not agree with the way you portray love. I must believe love stands for more than beauty or desire. I must believe my dad stands for the kind of love you do not believe of. I do not fear you, Aphrodite. In fact, I pity your sad view of love. I pity the Greeks who have worshipped you for eons."

The goddess figure had changed. She was no longer my mother, and I could not make out a precise shape out of her, yet she was still undoubtedly beautiful. She was turning brighter and brighter, and I knew I had to look away. How, no idea, but something in my gut told me to shut my eyes or I would've had to prepare to disintegrate.

" _Fire will burn and your love will burn with it_ , girl. There will be nothing left, because even the ashes will ignite and disappear. You'll die painfully and slowly, longing for the love you'll never achieve." And with such a charming farewell, light shone, and by the time I opened my eyes, Aphrodite was gone. I shivered. I knew I had made a really wrong choice by standing against her, but I couldn't stop it. I couldn't fight the urge of telling her she was a jerk, because I really needed and wanted to do so.

I figured I would have to deal with revengeful goddesses later, because right then, I had to deal with a more immediate problem. It was Will, walking towards me. His face let me knew he had come to beach with other issues in mind, but the moment he saw me he changed completely. He clearly thought we were going out or something.

"Hey, babe" he said, putting his hands on my shoulders and kissing my forehead gently. It truly hurt me to think about what I was going to do when he treated me so nicely. But I had to free him. I hated having to break his heart just to prove a point.  _And to be free_ , a gentle voice reminded me.

"Hey Will" I said with fragile voice. I didn't mean to be that melodramatic, but it simply turned out that way.

"Is there anything wrong? Did you miss me?" He apparently hadn't listened to my fight with Leo, and no one had had the heart to tell him about it just yet. Maybe it was better this way, if he heard it from me.

"Listen Will, there's something I've been meaning to tell you about what happened last night..."

"Yeah, last night was amazing, wasn't it? Do you remember...?" He kissed my cheek. "It was most wonderful." He was in trance. I could tell that much. He wasn't in charge of his thoughts or his actions anymore. He kissed me right on the corner of my lips, before simply kissing me. And there was it again, the dreadful feeling of not being able to control myself. Of me just mirroring his actions. I could hear Aphrodite's voice in my head. _You gave in because it's your nature_. I drew myself back.

"Will, stop. I mean it, I've got tell you something important." He came back close.

"Always so distant." He kissed me again, more demanding of obedience.  _Distant_? What was he  _talking_  about? We had just met the day before, we had no real story, nor a real relationship. How could I  _always_  be distant? His hands were hyperactive, brushing against my clothes. I took a step back.

"You really need to listen, Will. I mean it." But he just shushed me and kissed me again, and although I knew that was not okay, it was really hard to fight against it. I was simply making him grow impatient, and now his hands were trying to explore under my shirt. I suddenly got extremely scared.

"I told you to stop it! Listen to me!" I pleaded, yet he was no longer in his senses. Curse Aphrodite. I was pretty sure this was her doing, part of her revenge. I had a guy bewitched with a really huge need of me and I didn't know how to make him stop. He knocked me to the sand and started kissing me again, and since the beach was deserted, there was absolutely no one there who could help me.

"Will this is not you. This is some Aphrodite's curse, because no way this is my  _charm_. SNAP OUT OF IT!" I could hear the goddess's voice in my head.  _Giving in would be way easier. I am not merciful when it comes to punishments_. Part of him seemed to recover a bit of his senses because he froze for a couple seconds. I knew it was my only chance and I slapped him, got to my feet and started running away as fast as I could. After a split second, he went back to zombie mode and chased after me. I wished I had my bow and quiver with me, but there was nothing I could do about it. I took my chances with my last card. I started a prayer.  _Gods, I know you're having a strike up there in Olympus but I'd really appreciate it if you could help me here. I've got the impression this is all part of Aphrodite's revenge. Take pity on me, send help_.

Yet it seemed I was on my own, so I stopped running. If I had to deal with him by myself, running was no use. He was faster and in better physical conditions than me. My only chance of talking my way into his mind was confronting him. I took off my Chuck Taylor's and aimed at his head. I didn't miss.

"Hey, you stupid hormonal moron" I told him, because I no longer knew if sweet talk would help me with this. "You do not love me. You are obsessed with me 'cos you're projecting your feelings over me."

He seemed dubitative for a while. Maybe I had finally cracked the spell casted over him. Or maybe I had just lured it for a bit and got through his zombie state. Whatever it was, I prayed I could continue doing it.

"Yeah, that's right. You are in love with some other person at camp. One of those Aphrodite children." I took my best guess, and his eyes sparkled. Hey, I was getting good at this. Maybe I could make a living out of it. One of those lame love-consultants who won millions out of lying. I wouldn't lie, though. "You are in love but you're just too coward to speak your ming, so you reflect your feelings over me and you think I can fill the emptiness that has been created inside you, but you are wrong. Get over it. Be brave and speak up."

So when I thought I had finally talked him out of it, he started moving towards me. Apparently I had just convinced his zombie mind to try harder... with me. No help had come. One thing was clear. I had to fix this myself, that was the message the gods were sending me. This one was a problem  _I_  had to solve, this was my fight. So when I saw Leo running towards us, all I could think of was _fuck my life_.

"Hey!" He yelled at Will. "Leave her alone!"

You know, for a second there, Leo in blue-prince-to-the-rescue mode was really, really attractive. I almost felt like taking out some pom-poms and cheering like a perfect American cheerio. 'Who is from cabin nine and smoking hot? Leo! Who can make your heart race with all he's got? Valdez! L-e-o! Team Leo! Hurray!' But I'm not the cheerio type. Also, he was going to ruin it all. I was no damsel in distress. I was fully capable of taking care of my own freaking problems.

"Stay out of this, Valdez!" I told him, stupidly putting my guard down to yell at him.

"I'm just trying to help you!" He explained, as if it wasn't obvious what was he planning to do.

"Really? It never crossed my mind you were coming to help me. I thought you were going to join Aphrodite and help him..." I turned to Will to point at him as I said 'him' and I realised getting distracted to start an argument with Leo hadn't been my wisest choice. I cursed under my breath. Somehow, I knew what I had to do. I hated Leo for intervening, if he hadn't, maybe I could've solved this by using my wits, but now I would just have to recur to the easiest way out. I took of my remaining Chuck Taylor's and aimed to the exact middle between his eyebrows. The sneaker hit him  _real_  hard, and a chill ran through me, because I hadn't thrown it with much strength. Will fell, knocked out. "I hate morons." I stated, before taking of my hairpin and turning to Leo. I threw the hairpin at his forehead, and although he only let out a lame 'ouch' I knew it had hurt. I walked up to him.

"You fucked it up! I had to talk him out of it! Now I don't know if he's completely free of the spell, you fool!"

He simply smirked. "You have such a filthy mouth, Williams." He pointed out. "I was only trying to help you."

"I don't think I need your help, do you? I was perfectly capable of handling things on my own."

"Were you? If I don't recall wrong, as I was trying to catch my breath running as fast as I could towards you, this idiot was about to get lucky with you."

"He was under a spell! He was never interested in me! Nor was I interested in him, I was just being framed by Aphrodite, that shameless bitch. Part of it might have been my so called charm, but it had nothing to do with Will going all zombie-like. That was her doing, he probably won't remember a thing when he wakes up. If he has snapped out of it when he does." Understanding crossed his eyes, and his expression changed. His tense shoulders relaxed a bit and he sighed.

"You could've gotten hurt." He seemed so concerned my arms itched to hug him. But the voices in my head made me think better of it.  _You'll smash him_ , the mud lady had said.  _You'll die painfully and slowly, longing for the love you'll never achieve_ ; had said Aphrodite instead. I gave him a soft smile.

"Come on, Valdez. We gotta tell Piper I didn't strike you too hard with that hairpin." I took his hand.

"What does Piper have to do with any of this?" He asked, but I didn't need to answer. He'd just seen Piper and Jason walking down to us. He made an annoyed expression, yet he didn't let go of my hand, which was enough for me to forgive him for faking not getting angry at me. "We could use Jason to carry that guy." He admitted, pointing to Will. I liked the way he'd said 'that guy'. It sounded as if he was jealous. Maybe Leo could be a pain in the ass, but he was really cute when he was jealous.


	5. Butterfly tattoo

I had been given a bath by some thoughtful girl from the Demeter cabin. How nice. Jason and Piper had come forward then, when the rumour I was burning had finally reached them. They made the crowd go back to their duties and Jason gifted me a entertained look.

"So much for not fighting. Why do you always have to give such a show?" He joked. We laughed. Then Piper gave us a dreadful look. We shut up.

"Do you know you just exposed yourself in front of all the camp, Leo? That's no good." Girls, always delivering the bad news. Excellent party poopers. They escorted me to my cabin where I put on some dry clothes. Then I walked out and started walking towards the beach.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Piper demanded. I saw Jason mouthing to me the words 'I'll take care of it' so I just turned and started running. Soon enough I was no longer on the reach of Piper's charmspeak. As I was coming into the beach, I saw a couple kissing on the shoreline. My blood was boiling when I recognised Affie's multicolour hair brushing against Will's face. She said she didn't want to kiss him, so why was she doing it  _again_.

I was about to turn around when I heard some yelling, and I looked back at them just to see Will knocking Affie to the ground. The terrified 'SNAP OUT OF IT!' definitely reached me, and before I could command it, my legs were taking me full speed down to the coast. I could only helplessly stare at the scene while as I was getting closer. Somehow, she got away and was now running from him. But then she stopped and turned to Will, and I thought I must've imagined it, because she threw one of her Chuck Taylor's at him and started yelling, like one would yell a very narrow-minded ten year old for being naughty. Gee, even  _I_  wished she'd never get angry at me. She was more than intimidating with her sneakers and her exhausted patience than anything I had seen before, and I've seen quite a bit. I've faced a really nasty angry snow goddess and yet this Affie, who'd lost her temper, frightened me even more.

When I came in with my best 'Leo to the rescue' queue, I never imagined she would be even madder at me for trying to help her.  _Hey, I wasn't the one trying to get lucky with you_ , I almost blurted out. I ended up starting a discussion, but she was not in for it, she had to take care of her problems before. She knocked out Will with her remaining Chuck Taylor's like he was nothing. Dude, the girl knocked out a six feet tall guy with a  _freaking sneaker_. A chill run through me and I swallowed; she stated how she hated morons and I just nodded. Gods, wasn't she amazing. I had never seen anyone like her. I got out of my trance by... was that thing a  _hairpin_? Jeez, those hair accessories makers didn't know how dangerous their products were, because that had hurt like hell.

She started yelling at me and I could only think of what a filthy mouth she had. She could've gotten suspended even more than me. And to think I had thought she was very lady-like at first glance, which didn't make me think of her any lesser, though. It was almost something to list on the good things. Then she took me from my dreamy state and from one moment to the other I saw myself arguing with her. I didn't know how, but she was so beautiful while yelling at me, that wild sparkle in her eyes when she was mad. It was almost addictive, and it was just so easy to argue with her. I had liked a lot of girls in my life, but I couldn't quite figure out what did she make me feel. Sometimes I felt totally breath-taken, others confused, others just mad and gods, she mainly drove me insane and I had barely known her just for two days. I couldn't imagine what a torment (sweet torment) would be my life if this became a routine.

I felt like a puppet when she took my hand and made me walk towards my friends. Jason gave me an apologetic smile like 'sorry dude, she has charmspeak and really good kisses on her side', while Piper looked at me in a way that made me really nervous. She'd been a rebel back in Wilderness School, but now she was dating Jason, she was a little nervous and it seemed she tried to impress him by being bossy, or maybe she'd turned a bit bossy since I'd been able to make Jason relax a bit. I would never know. She kept glancing back and forth me, Affie, and our interlaced fingers. I'd had the urge to pull my hand back when she had taken it with hers, but it had also been itching for a while right up until then, and when I did nothing and just held her hand, it felt good. Almost right, like it was meant to be or something, so I had stopped thinking about it, 'cos it made me feel too awkwardly good I thought I might start to get sick.

"What happened here?" Piper asked, taking notice of the unconscious Will behind us.

"Uh..." I started. I didn't know what to tell them, the truth seemed a bit too surreal for being believable. Thanks the gods, Affie talked so I didn't stand there mumbling like a stupid.

"It was a curse and my...  _charm_  mixed together. I, uhm, had to knock him out." She admitted, clearly uncomfortable with it.

"With what?" Asked Jason, legitimate doubt, since Affie didn't look like could take Will on hand to hand combat.

"With my converse?" She said, a little embarrassed, although I couldn't tell whether it was for being so cool or for what she believed a lame weapon choice. Jason whistled. Piper asked about the curse stuff and Affie started explaining about her encounter with Aphrodite. Jason approached me slowly.

"Knocked out a guy with a sneaker and stood up against Aphrodite? Dude, you sure like them tough." He murmured. Then he must've noticed the scratch on my forehead. "What's that?"

"Hairpin" I mumbled, ashamed.

Jason patted me on the back. "My congratulations, man."

Then we were forced by Piper to go to the Big House, since she didn't like the thing about Affie's charm. I had to agree they were a bit creepy after what I saw at the beach, but after that scene I also had to admit any guy who tried to get too smart with her was in a way worse position than her. On our walk there, Jason and Piper were ahead of us, and I was incredibly weary of Affie's hand in mine and her left shoulder rubbing occasionally against my arm. That was somehow reassuring, 'cos there were only few girls whose shoulders wouldn't rub against mine, or even worse, against my face. Silence went and came, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She was the first to break it.

"I was really scared" she said under her breath, very quietly, like it was a truly dark secret it had taken her a lot of courage to tell. "For a moment there, I felt so vulnerable, and I thought that maybe, maybe..." she didn't finish, but I could feel her shivering at the thought which completed the phrase. I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that the angry beauty who had stood completely flawless on the beach was the same scared girl shivering next to me. Maybe that is what they call adrenaline shots. Maybe that's why most of us demigods were diagnosed with ADHD... 'cos we were meant for battle, but out of it, we were just as most people: weak, scared, vulnerable. I tightened my grip on her hand.

"It's okay, Affie. Nothing happened." I reminded her.

"But what if..."

" _I_  would've kicked his butt instead and would've knocked him out." I assured her. She seemed to have calmed down, 'cos she was no longer shivering. I felt strangely protective of her, like I would never let anything happen to her, at any cost. Like if I could prevent her from any harm, and that was uncommon, 'cos next to Jason and Piper, I usually felt powerless. They were both so cool and they complimented each other so well, I could barely understand why did they still let me hang around them. I was just a third wheel.

As we came next to the Big House, Affie and I simultaneously loosened the grip on each other's hand and let them hang awkwardly next to us. Was having a free hand this weird before? It had been just a couple of minutes, but it was more than enough to make my hand convinced its only duty was to hold Affie's. A chill went down my spine. What was I  _thinking_  about?

Chiron was standing outside, talking to Lou and Annabeth who were conveniently explaining the Leo-on-fire situation in some strange way it took all blame from us magically. Well, almost all blame. Annabeth gave me a hateful look though, and I reminded myself never to make her angry again. She was like the mother I never wanted to have. Almost as scary as Affie when she was truly furious. Piper came forward and explained the situation as well. Chiron made us come inside and we had to discuss the matter.

"First things first, the prophecy" Piper said once we were all around the ping-pong table where usually council meetings were held. Someone had brought nachos. I immediately picked some.

"Isn't there any guacamole for these?" Someone asked clearly referring to the nachos. I noticed afterwards the voice came from next to me, where Affie stood. Gods. I could've almost married her right there. I thought I was the only one who had ever thought of that. I seriously could've, except Annabeth was giving Affie a warning, and uhm, it would've been awkward to just actually marry her on the spot. Yeah, overthinking stupid thoughts, totally not my thing. Now I was jumpy 'cos I'd been thinking to marry the girl next to me, even if not deadly serious. Luckily for me, we went back to the serious life-or-death stuff.

"Which prophecy?" Affie asked, as if apologising for having interrupted before. She still looked a bit offended, as if her question for the guacamole had been a legitimate motion. I made the mental note of inviting her to have outlaw lunch with me in the woods sometime. Tacos or quesadillas. And guacamole.

"The one Aphrodite spoke of" Annabeth explained, since she had already been updated on the recent events. "Not all of her words were threats, Affie. Some of them were fragments of a prophecy, she was probably so angry she let you know serious stuff about your future so you would know of a future you could not avoid."

"How charming" Jason stated. You see, when Jason was a roman in his roman camp, he was mostly serious and a really non-sarcastic, not-joking guy. But here at camp he had relaxed a bit, learnt how to be occasionally a pain in the ass, as all guys should be. I doubted it would last (I was pretty sure whenever we began our quest, he'd go back to be a responsible guy) but for now he was doing pretty well. Obviously, all three of them, Piper, Annabeth and Chiron blamed me for it. I didn't mind. Geniuses were usually misunderstood.

"You mean that ' _Fire will burn and your love will burn with it_ ' thing? Well, it was definitely creepy, so if prophecies are supposed to freak you out, it is definitely prophecy material." Affie said. The room fell silent. This silence made me uncomfortable, it was different from walking with Affie without saying a thing. This one felt empty, dreadful.

"Well, whether it is or not, we will definitely have to consult our expert." We all knew who Lou was talking about, but Affie spoke.

"Which expert?" So Annabeth spent two minutes explaining her about Rachel, our hostess of the Oracle of Delphi. She was cool almost all the time, except when she turned into green-mist-creator mode and spilled out riddles about how all of us were supposed to die. Just your everyday death sentence mistress. I assumed we were done, and I was about to take my leave, when Chiron reminded us that we still had to see to the Affie's-powers subject. He said that it was private to her, so she first had to decide whether she wanted for him to share the information he had with all of us, or just with her. She said she was cool with all of us knowing. Chiron said it would be better if she explained the notions she had so far herself, and then he would see if he knew anything else. Since Eros' children were unusual, he had taught not many of them, and had seen even fewer using their powers.

"Aphrodite said something of me changing people's emotions. I think she was trying to mess with the idea I should have of my powers, because I think it doesn't work the way she explained. She said 'what you spread, is what comes back to you' and I think is a more subtle thing. People just tend to like me if I'm happy, or they tend to feel wrathfully if I'm mad at the moment. It is some sort of mirroring effect and, as far as I know, the strongest is love. Isn't it? She called it  _charm_."

Chiron nodded. So Will's situation had come up like that. Wait, why was she feeling in love? I felt suddenly dizzy and I abruptly blushed. I wished everybody would be really concentrated in Affie and her powers so they wouldn't notice me. She had spent the whole afternoon with me before talking to Will. Well, she had also shared with the Hermes cabin before that, but I had a chance, right?  _What does it matter if you have a chance or not, Valdez?_  A voice asked in my head.  _Oh, no civil war between you_ , I warned my thoughts.

"That's all I know about them, do you know anything else, Chiron?" She asked hopefully, clearly wanting to be told something good came with that charm. Something told me it was way worse than it sounded. She could influence the way people felt, and I think that might make her wonder who enjoy her company for real.

"Well it depends, we could check it out.  _Parli italiano*_?" Chiron tried. At first I didn't recognise the language, but then I figured it was Italian. It sounded quite similar to Spanish, I could almost be sure of what had he asked her.

" _No, io non parlo italiano. Perché me lo chiedi**_?" She seemed puzzled. Apparently she didn't notice she was talking in another language.

"I asked you because you make us all speak fluent greek so you can understand us, and you didn't notice I just changed to Italian, nor you noticed you answered me in perfect Italian as well. That's because as Aphrodite's children are usually able to speak the language she has chosen as the language of love: french; Eros' children are usually able to speak the language he considers most romantic: Italian." He made a pause, as if for Affie had anything to say, but her expression summed it up pretty well. 'Cool' it appeared to say. "Besides that and your excellent aim, which can be better than some Apollo's children's, and I believe you have already seen in action" he pointed with his eyes at Will, passed out in the couch, where we had forgotten him to start the improvised council. "I don't know of any other abilities, if there're any."

With that, we were dismissed. We all had to go back to our duties. It was past lunch time, so we were allowed to pick up some food from the Big House and have a little break to eat, so we wouldn't skip lunch. Chiron seemed just a little too tired after the talk, as if he feared for our future, and the prophecy stuff had been wearing him out. I had always thought he seemed ageless, but for the first time, I could catch a glimpse of his old age. Annabeth left us saying how she was going to skip lunch for planning stuff, and gave me a ' _you should do it too and go back to work on the ship_ ' look. Even though I was dying for skipping a meal and go immediately back to hard work, I had to sacrifice myself to check things off my mental list, and take Affie for a lunch in the woods.  _Sorry, Annabeth_ , I thought.

Thankfully, I didn't have to make awkward excuses because Jason and Piper took their leave almost as soon as Annabeth was gone.  _Such incredible senses of duty_. But it was mainly because the deadline was still far away, and the thought of loading ourselves on some life-threatening adventure wasn't exactly what any of us longed for. If I worked harder this afternoon, I could make up for the lost time. The only one who couldn't wait was Annabeth, and we didn't blame her. It was terribly hard for her, since going to a camp full of romans who would probably want to kill us on sight was her only hope for retrieving her boyfriend. I didn't know how that must feel, and I was sure I didn't want to figure it out.

"I have stuff to do, Affie, so I'll see you later" had said Lou, but she wasn't smooth at trying to do things covertly. Like leaving me and Affie alone, for instance. When we were alone I cleared my throat. She looked up to me, and once again I thought how incredibly nice was to have someone else doing that for a change.

"So... if you have nothing to do... I thought maybe-" I got immediately interrupted.

"Have lunch with you?" She asked. I winced, was that such a bad idea? "I'd love to." I opened my eyes, reluctantly. Maybe she had been kidding, and was now waiting with a scorning smirk. But no, for unbelievable it could be, she was just there, softly smiling to me.  _This one must be my lucky day_. I put on my confident grin and started walking towards the woods, where at someplace near Bunker 9 I had my emergency kitchen, the one I used when I got too caught up building the Argo II and I found out I had missed lunch.

At some point, her shoulder started brushing awkwardly against my arm, and I felt that void-in-my-gut feeling I usually got when I was about to do scary stuff, like when I was little and I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night; or when I had to stand up for other girls at pre-school and kill the terribly disgusting insects that appeared from time to time in the classroom, like cockroaches or freakishly big moths. Now, after all I'd been through, I'd be glad to go back doing the exterminator job, but when I was three years old, those things didn't make me scared, but they were so repulsive it wasn't easy to 'be a man' and kill the damn things. Affie did scare me, but not in the 'ugh-so-repulsive' kind of way, but in the 'oh-I-don't-know-what-to-do-what-if-I-look-stupid' kind of way. Nobody had told me just yet I was almost always really stupid around girls, and I couldn't make it any worse here, so I shouldn't get all nervous, but I did. I moved my hand just a bit, a single millimetre, only enough to 'accidentally' hit hers, but the moment they did, she reached for mine and I didn't pull away. That simple gesture was more than enough for me. It made my heart all crazy, racing like I had just killed a thousand Earthborn. I didn't know whether it was good for my health, but if it was killing me somehow, I would've to die sooner, 'cos I wasn't letting go.

"Are your hands always this cold?" I asked, so I could stop thinking about it, but I realised a bit late I had now pointed out the fact we were holding hands. Even though it was the second time in a row, saying it aloud made it somehow more real, as if putting it into words made us fully aware of it.

"They could be colder" she said. She acted like all of this was so natural, but then again, I was the one with no people-skills. Maybe it wasn't that difficult nor that nicely-threatening to her. "My little sister used to call me Lizzie, as short for lizard. She spoke english since little, due to our dad; unlike me, because I never wanted to learn. I have been always cold, and on sunny afternoons I would rest outside, reading, letting the sun warm me up."

"Lizzie, huh?" I told her, flavouring the nick-name. It somehow suited her. "What if I start calling you that?"

She looked at me, alarmed. "Oh, please, don't, I hated when she did so-" too late. I had already made up my mind. Wonderful nick-name. One that's cute but also bothered her. Also, not to be mean, but her name sucked.

"So, Lizzie. You were telling me you never wanted to learn english. Why?" She gave me a poisoned look. I smiled.

"Because spanish is beautiful." She said it as if it was the obvious, only possible answer. "People go on and on about how french or italian are the most romantic languages but I never got what they meant. I don't know how  _je t'aime_ ,  _ti amo_ ,  _eu te amo_ ,  _aishiteru_ , _jag älskar dig_ ,  _ich liebe dich_ , _s 'agapó_  or  _I love you_  are any more beautiful or sincere than  _te amo_." My eyes widened. She couldn't speak english yet she knew that phrase in nine different languages. And such a phrase choice, that made me a little dizzy each one of the nine times she said it.

"Why do you know that phrase in specific in so many languages?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Because I think it's the best one to prove my point. The feeling is never as real as if I state in Spanish."

"Sadly not everyone can understand it." The look she gave me in that very moment made everything inside me change place, and I was pretty sure I was now breathing with my liver. It's not a good thing to do, just in case you're wondering.

"Oh, I think I'm safe for now." My brain had some sort of ADHD reaction 'cos a thousand different voices started screaming different things all at the same time, between the ones I could identify 'She's talking about you!' and 'She probably doesn't have anyone she wants to tell that yet' and a thousand others. I really wished the first one to be right, though. "Are your hands always this warm?" She asked instead, changing the course of my thoughts completely. How did she do that? I think I blushed, too. I couldn't avoid staring at our hands, noticing the strange contrast between her pale skin and mine, way darker. Her hand was tiny too, and it looked even littler in mine, which somehow gave me the feeling I was holding something incredibly fragile and I got the sudden idea I could break it.

"Uhm, yes, I suppose. I guess fire is within me" I confessed. I never liked talking about the pyrokinesis, but I thought just maybe, since she had continued arguing with me instead of freaking out because I had suddenly caught fire, maybe it would be okay with her.

"So you're hot stuff" she blurted out, and when she realised that what she said could be understood in many ways, she blushed. It was the first time I saw her blushing. I rephrase, it was the first time I saw her blushing  _because of me_. "I mean,  _literally_." She corrected herself. Really, what was she pretending? 'Cos if making me lose my mind was her goal, she could stop now, 'cos she'd already achieved it.

The walk started feeling way too long, 'cos I think I wouldn't stand not another metre like this, I might... I don't know, I felt almost as I would start burning, and in some sections I could've sworn I was steaming again. I didn't know how had she been able to hold my hand all the way. Luckily for me and my subnormal body temperature, we had reached my lunch spot. She sat down on a tree trunk she'd moved to the only spot that was illuminated by a ray of sun. The forest there was quite steep. She sunbathed while I started pulling things out of my belt. Now and then I would get distracted by the way her skin looked even paler under the sunlight, or how her eyes shone like polished rubies, instead of raw ones, when they reflected the rays of sun. I noticed even there, where she might've been able to keep herself pretty warm, she was still wearing her denim jacket. I also observed she had a tattoo of a minuscule butterfly on her neck, behind her right ear. I wanted to know what it meant, why had she gotten it, but I decided not to freak her out by letting her know I had stared at her for long enough to see it.

When I was ready cooking, I turned to tell her lunch was ready, but she was kneeling next to me, her face a couple centimetres from mine, looking down to what I'd cooked. When she lifted her eyes, I stared right into them for what felt like hours. Something inside me ached. I think I forgot breathing.

"You have a stain there" I said, pointing to her orange shirt. She looked down, and I lifted my finger and poked her nose. That was my best escape strategy. I had gotten so scared and hesitant and numb I had felt almost as if I was going to be sick. "Got ya." She gave me an annoyed look.

"So mature, Valdez." She went back to the food and so did I.

"So, well, I made some tacos, I hope you... oh gods, I forgot, are you by any chance a vegetarian?" I forgot completely. Damn it.

"Does that have meat?" She asked with a worried expression.

"Lots." I flinched.

"Wonderful, I'm starving." She told me before picking one and biting it.

"You  _are_  mean, Lizzie!" I pointed out, open mouthed.

She showed me her tongue. "I just like teasing you, you fool. Anyways, this guacamole is really good."

"Thanks" was all Ii could manage to say. Yeah, we were such grown ups. But teasing each other made us temporarily forget those unsaid things that were floating in the air and for now was better if they stayed that way. Because I was pretty sure none of us would know what to do if we said them.

That afternoon, Affie went back to arranging her cabin and I had to go back to work. As if suspecting where I'd been or what I'd been doing during lunch, Annabeth was specially bossy the whole afternoon, and gave me no breaks until dinner. I didn't complain, in fact, I worked harder so she wouldn't feel I had just forgotten about our quest. I knew what were we supposed to do. It didn't stop me from wondering all the time what could've happened if I hadn't made the stain joke just then. That night, at campfire, Affie and I held hands again while singing with the rest of the camp, and no one said a thing about it.

* * *

**Translations:**

*Do you speak italian?

**No, I don't. Why do you ask me?


	6. Fall and fly

I woke up sweating, with my hair sticking to my forehead. I'd had a terrible nightmare. It had started as a very nice dream, I was talking to Affie, we were holding hands and she was cold, so I put my arms around her to keep her warm. It had been perfect, even if inside a dream. Then her face shifted and the Gaea was looking at me with a wicked grin, scaring the hell out of me. She tried to strangle me. Tía Callida had appeared right then, fighting her out of my dreams, as if she had been guarding them. The thought of Hera overlooking my imaginary scenes with Affie didn't make me feel any better.

"You will blow it all up" said Gaea, and even in real life I shivered. Hera told me not to worry, that it was time for me, her warrior, to take it easy for a little while. Somehow I could not believe her. It was too good to be true, having this goddess tell me I could take a vacation.

I got out of bed and took a quick shower, put on some clean clothes and went to have breakfast. When I was walking in front of the Apollo cabin, my stomach twisted and tied itself up, because there she was, talking with Will Solace. Why did she  _always_  have to go back to him like that? Yet this time she wasn't smiling, and she seemed very uncomfortable. Will had a worried expression, and I was about to intervene when I thought better of it. I could almost feel the blood in my veins boiling, and catching fire again wouldn't be forgiven by Chiron again. If she was talking to that guy again, it was her problem. She had made very clear the day before she did not want me rescuing her. Their conversation didn't last long, though. She caught a glimpse of me and waved in my direction, but I ignored her, pissed.

She was lost in thought all breakfast, and I had a really hard problem to concentrate on what my cabinmates were saying. Half my mind was like 'Screw her, she's just messing with you' and the other half kept yelling 'Fight back! Go for it!' and it was most difficult to make them shut up. Jake, sitting to my left, shook me and murmured to me.

"Dude, if you can't stop thinking about her, date her, but for the love of the gods, don't get caught up in daydream. We have a ship to build." He was right. I apologised and spent the rest of the breakfast talking about engines and turbines. When the breakfast finished, Affie herself walked up to me.

"You didn't say hi to me earlier." She accused me. I had ignored her twice, since I had also avoided her as we entered the dining pavilion, so I couldn't act like it had been a casualty.

"I didn't want to end the magic your little conversation earlier, Williams" I told her, way more resentfully than I intended. But I hated seeing her with that guy, even when Will was usually a non-zombie, easy-going person. I simply. Couldn't. Stand it.

"Hey, he was just apologising. He got back to his cabin last night, Chiron explained everything to him, and he was really ashamed. I told him it hadn't been his fault, and that I would keep the secret. I don't think he wants the girl he really likes to know the details of yesterday's confrontation." She had taken my right hand with hers, brushing her fingers playfully against mine. It somehow had a really calming effect.

"So what's the official version?" I asked, sighing.

"I dumped him because you kicked his butt in a really heroic and romantic way." She grinned.

"Oh yeah, I looked very manly knocking him out with my shoes." I told her, and she laughed. I wished I could spend the entire morning with her, but we both had things to do. "How's your cabin doing?" I asked instead.

"Oh, you'll see. I'm gonna be done by lunch, so in the afternoon I'll have archery class, sword fight lessons and practice in the climbing wall." She shifted the weight of her body to her right leg. "You will be able to check how has my cabin turned out tomorrow morning."

"Just don't die in training 'cos I'd hate to postpone my ship construction for planning your funeral." I said before frowning, confused. "Tomorrow morning?"

"I'll keep the not dying thing in mind." She teased. "Tomorrow it's your cabin's turn for cabin inspection, mr. Counsellor." I tried to stop my mind from racing at that thought.  _Hold it_ , I told myself.  _Hold it for later_. It technically meant we were going to be alone in her cabin. More than technically. "See you for outlaw lunch?" I blinked. Was that now a thing?

"Uh, I don't know, I guess-" She clearly wasn't waiting for my answer.

"I'll cook today, Valdez. I'll show you what kitchen is really about." Then she pressed my hand as a 'see ya' and walked away.

I spent all morning working like crazy so I would be in time for lunch. Everybody was looking at me as if my hyperactivity had reached new levels, but I didn't care. I was smiling like a lunatic, fixing stuff, telling people not to be so narrow-minded, you could definitely fit eight king-size rooms in a twenty-feet long ship. When I finished the morning shift, I was completely soaked in oil and dirt, but I didn't have time to change and go have lunch. I figured Affie wouldn't mind.

She was completely fresh, maybe because she had only been fixing last details on her cabin, but she didn't seem to notice I was completely dirty. Or so I thought, but I thought wrong.

"You don't have to try so hard to win my heart, Valdez." She joked, clearly referring to my look. Then she got closer and lifted my goggles, which I'd forgotten I still had on.

"Oh, I thought I'd already done that. Damn, now I'll have to work harder." I admitted dramatically, and she smiled nervously. Yeah, this kind of flirting made me anxious as well, like if I had that nasty butterflied-stomach feeling and that was way too gooey to be good.

She was a really good cook, I had to give her that. Best chop-suey ever.  _Sorry, mom_. We ate and said good-bye. It was difficult pretending we were old friends who did this since forever but it was our best plan so far, with so many unsaid things.

When I saw her that afternoon, she was full covered in scratches. She had been forced to get rid of the her denim jacket and she was now sweaty and dirty, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. I suddenly realised I wasn't the only one working there at Bunker 9 staring at her.

"What are you all staring at? I thought you had a trireme to build." She yelled at all the big, sweaty, oil covered guys surrounding her. They all went back to work on the spot. They'd never followed  _my_  instructions so quickly, and I felt betrayed. "What are  _you_ staring at, Valdez?" She asked me, but I could immediately tell her tone was way more playful, like she was teasing me or something. Gods, I maybe  _should_  ask her out.

"What  _happened_  to you?" I had to ask, still stunned by the accentuated tough-girl look she had after the training.

"I got hit by some Athena's son during the sword fighting lesson... Malcolm, I think his name was" she explained, pointing a cut on her cheek. "And I got hit on my leg with a rock while climbing the wall, but I least I didn't get barbecued." She grinned. "I'm exhausted" she confessed before falling next to me and sitting on the ground. "Here, I brought you a snack." She bit an apple she had with her and then tossed it to me. I caught it and gave it a bite as well. I kept working for a while, I had to finish or Annabeth would kill me. I became more clumsy under her watch, thinking she was overlooking my every move, which made me weary of every single one of my actions. When I finally allowed myself to look at her, she was sleeping, curled up on the ground, holding between her fingers some wires she had intertwined to create a beautiful steel flower. She had really skilful hands. That was cute somehow, such a tough girl being able to create such delicate things. I hated the thought of having to wake her up, she seemed to be having a great time in the land of Morpheus. She giggled while sleeping, and that made me wonder what was she dreaming about. One of her eyes opened.

"It is very creepy to stare at people while they sleep, Valdez." I immediately blushed, she had been awake and had caught me staring at her; gods, she was evil.  _Evil woman_.

"I uhm..." I didn't know how to explain myself. I couldn't come up with any useful smart ass excuses.

"I was kidding. But I'll have to get paid back for being stalked so shamelessly." I was about to ask what did she want in exchange for catching me watching her sleep, but once again she wasn't waiting for my answers nor my approval. She simply stood up, took a couple steps and kissed me on the cheek. "That should do." It felt somehow different than the first time she'd done it. This one was so not a 'hey so you speak spanish, thank the gods' kiss. I stood there, probably burning at mild temperature while she walked off.

She didn't meet me that night at campfire, but I was pretty sure I'd seen her denim jacket in the middle of the crowd at least twice. Jason and Piper were there, though, holding hands and sporadically kissing each other, singing while Jason hugged her from the back. As we were leaving, Jason came to me. Piper came after him. She spoke the words his expression hinted he was about to say.

"Where's Affie?" She asked. I shrugged.

"I have no idea."

"Weren't the two of you dating?" Jason asked, although Piper knew better.

"You should go for it, you know." She told me, and I noticed she'd clearly had changed her mind about the Affie-matter. I sighed uncomfortably, I knew what they meant, but the timing wasn't exactly right. If it were that easy, I knew somehow that Affie herself would've done a move by now, but something was retaining her, and whatever that was, made me hesitate as well. I had the impression I knew what it was, and it definitely wasn't a good thing.

"I know. I'll try." I said before I told them I was tired and went to my cabin for some sleep. Did I truly need to date her? Was that the only way? I didn't feel quite like myself lately and I didn't know if it would help letting all go and just, you know, let things be. Would I feel any less lost if I just gave in? I felt incredibly terrified next to her, like if anything I said or did needed a lot of courage to happen. The insecurity and the blue I would normally swallow and hide would break my defences from the inside pulling me wide open in ways I would've never let it happen. I felt more vulnerable than usual, less confident, less smart ass. Even when all of it was a cover, it felt weird not to have it.

That night I had my first dreamless night in a long, long time. Well, not exactly dreamless. Affie was there, knocking guys with her shoes, standing flawless, smiling confidently at me. Like she knew what she did to me every time she smirked that way.  _Curse her_ , she was there even in dreams.

"I will be just fine." She assured me, before standing on the tip of her toes and leaning forward... I woke up with that unusual grogginess I got after a good night sleep. I showered quickly, and I started checking cabins. Our cabin got a two. Hephaestus' children weren't exactly neat, so we never got truly good scores. Just when whoever was making the inspection took pity on us. Jason had everything organised, neat and clean. What a surprise. Five out of five. So did the Demeter, Aphrodite and Athena cabins. Apollo, Nike and Dionysius got a four. Ares, Hecate, Tyche and Iris got a three. Hermes, Nemesis and Hebe got a two and Hypnos got a one out of pity. Not that they were awake to care for it. And then I had only the newest cabin left: cabin twenty-one, Eros' cabin. From the outside it looked exactly the same as it had when inhabited, a pale wooden cabin with a nice front porch. I noticed that there were black curtains on the windows now. There were some flowers on the porch, azaleas, I recognised. She had put some creepers on the right side of the cabin, the orange colour they caught now, in the middle of the fall, was breathtaking. I thought that was kind of cool. I stepped on the porch with a dreadful feeling, and before I could knock, the door swung open. And there she was, grinning a silent 'I've got this'.

"Hey Liz, came to check out the place." I told her as I stepped inside.

"All yours" she welcomed me and, oh my gods, this one might have been one of the, maybe not coolest, but definitely nicest and cosiest cabins ever. A half-wall came mid way to the end of the cabin, so it hid only half the room, half the way from the floor to the ceiling. Against the wall was a truly nice black couch with red cushions, facing a bookshelf full of what I recognised as novels. Fantasy novels. That was to the left, to the right corner, against the cabin's back and right walls, was a chimney surrounded by cushions all in red and bright orange, very fiery like. The walls were all red cherry or white. Her bow and quiver hung on the right wall. Behind the wall in the middle of the room were two beds, separated by curtains, which were kind of whitey transparent, so I thought they were more for aesthetic purposes rather than privacy ones.

"You got generous" I told her. It was well known, by now, the fact that Eros' children appeared as one every two centuries or so. The belief of having to share the room with anyone was almost wishful thinking.

"I have shared a room with my little sister since she was born. The room felt too big with just one bed." She told me, and I understood what she meant. Hephaestus cabin was quite crowded, and we appreciated the modified beds for privacy. But in cabins that had really few demigods, it must've felt empty. There was a lot of free space, even with two beds instead of one. I took a short glance at the night table. There was a picture of a very photogenic family, in which she was wearing a dress that made her look pretty childish. At the bottom of each bed, there were chests, hers probably had the few things she had been carrying with her when she got abducted by one of our satyrs. A painting hung on the front wall, at the remaining corner made by the front and the right wall, where a winged toddler was looking at a butterfly who was resting on his arm.

"Eros?" I asked.

"Yup, although this one is his most famous form, as the romans saw him, Cupid. I painted it during the Arts & Crafts lesson, but it's a replica. The original one is from William-Adolphe Bougeureau."

I was suddenly impressed. Even more than by the cabin itself. "You painted this?"

She nodded. I stared, and finally came to the realisation that we were alone in the cabin. We had been alone several times now, but somehow the subtle knowledge of there being a rule which prohibited the present situation made me burst with nervousness. Suddenly all the 'date her's I'd been told the past few days started popping in my mind. I got tense, and I think she noticed it 'cos, from one moment to another, the air felt so thick I might have been able to lift my hand and touch it.

"You know, Lizzie..." I mumbled, and then I shut up. I had no idea how to continue that, so I gasped for air, 'cos oxygen was not reaching my brain properly.

"I know, Leo. I know." She hadn't called me by my name for so long I felt compelled to do something, anything. But as always, she was the one to take the biggest step. I caught her hand, and she came closer, first slowly, then rushed. I hit the wall behind me with my back. You know, most members of the masculine genre must be disappointed of what I did then, but I certainly didn't need more. Or maybe I didn't know I needed more.

She hugged me, and for a while we just stood there, with our arms around each other. I kissed her head, and said nothing, did nothing. Her hair smelled of lilies. She  _was_ really cold. I held her tighter, my hands hanging awkwardly at my sides until I found the curve of her hips. And in that very moment, I understood it. I liked her, and I wanted to make her laugh and go out with her. I wanted to kiss her, but as I understood all of it, I knew it was hopeless. That's why I stood there, hugging her, hoping for a way to make this right.


	7. Just a kiss

Sweet and mildly warm. It was everything she could ever wish for. The sun shined outside but in here it was dark and cosy. A thousand million candles lit up for us. Magical candles, I had put with the help of Lou, who had gently offered herself to make my cabin more  _romantic_. I could've spent there the rest of eternity. I hid my face on his shoulder and the smell of oil and shampoo surrounded me. I had never felt quite that right in my life. I put my arms on his shoulders and let my fingers play with the little locks he had at the back of his neck. He shivered, and his warmth got more intense, but I was always so cold, so, so cold, and I felt it like a pleasant change. After a couple of minutes, we both knew we couldn't stay like that forever, even if we wanted to. I looked up to him and I saw the exact same thoughts I had, shining in his eyes.  _What if we burn?_  The prophecy had said so, and it probably worried him. He wasn't sure about how safe I was with him, and neither was I. He had caught fire by heating up on a fight, and other mood changes might set him on fire as well. So far I didn't know whether I was fireproof or not, and I guess catching fire wasn't the best way to figure it out. As if it weren't enough preoccupation, I could still hear the mud lady on the street.  _You'll smash him_. I played with his braces, nervously, while he picked locks of my hair between his fingers and played with them. I felt like crying. Why did we have to deal with this? It was so unfair, so incredibly unfair. My throat itched and I blinked back tears. He looked me in the eye, and brushed the cut on my cheek with his thumb. We were so close yet we didn't dare to do anything else, the wrong move might be our last.  _Fire will burn and your love will burn with it_. I could hear Aphrodite's words mocking me, with her proud, damnably gorgeous voice.  _You will die painfully and slowly, longing for the love you'll never achieve_. She had threatened me and I got cursed by her. Did that mean I was never going to be able to kiss Leo? Would he be up to a relationship of just holding hands? I mean, I wasn't sure even  _I_  could stand that.

"C'mon, let's go" I told him, the candles around us flickering and turning off. The blue in my heart did not ignite them anymore. I lowered my eyes, 'cos looking at him was hurtful. He didn't protest, but I guessed he was just as depressed, and the words just couldn't come out. Still, he managed to speak after all.

"We'll figure it out, Liz. We won't let those damn prophecies decide for us." He looked too determined and manly while saying it my heart ached.  _I hope you are right_. It seemed so hopeless yet, just like him, I didn not want to give up without even trying.

"Let's not let this crush our spirits" I told him. "We can still hold hands." I pointed out, looking for the bright side, with a mischievous smile.

"I don't have to worry, I was just wondering whether you'll be able to handle me since, you know, I'm hot stuff." He teased. I smiled. We were both faking this time, but it was the only way to go on. The Fates were just too cruel, or maybe greek lives were supposed to be cruel. Tragedies, like the ones in the plays. It was either comedy or tragedy, and it was more than clear ours wasn't going to be the funny, light story. No, we were condemned for something more painful.

We entered the dining pavilion holding hands, even when we knew that would create a lot of jokes and such, but at least I wasn't going to waste the few occasions I had to spend with him just for worrying about a bunch of teenagers who thought of teasing couples as a sport.  _Fuck them all_. I ate alone at my table, the scratch of my breakfast a silent prayer.  _Please dad, let me believe you're nothing like Aphrodite_. When I noticed anyone staring at me, except of course, the nice campers who had helped me the last few days, I shot them a 'mind your own business look'. I was so not in the mood for gossips. Lou was smiling brightly at me, and I thought maybe she thought something else had happened.

When I had finished breakfast, I waved off Leo, and Lou came to me. She had excited looks, and I didn't blame her, but I shook my head. Lou must've not intended it, but when she told me to 'let it all out' there was some hidden order in her voice, and I don't know why, but I obeyed her. Since the very first moment I had met her, I knew there was something tricky about her, the magic and the Mist she was able to control, but only now I could understand just how much it could affect the ones around her. And now, I was crying in front of someone for the first time ever, breaking all my rules. Lou gave me an apologetic smile, and her eyes shimmered empathically.

"At least you're together" she tried to look on the bright side. "Some people in camp are worse than that." I felt even worse, for had been crying over something so superficial as it was not being able to kiss a boy I really liked, when I remembered Annabeth had been months without knowing a thing about her boyfriend. She must've been going nuts. It made me truly admire her. Yet somehow, I knew he was still out there, longing for her. That Percy boy really missed his Annabeth.

I got a couple of good news talking with Lou, though. I could finally contact my mother via Iris message. I could also try to figure out the prophecy with the help of their  _expert_ , Rachel Dare. The only problem was she was on school right then, and she would come to camp during winter holidays to check everything was in order, so I had to wait until then. But at least now I had deadlines, goals to look up to. I didn't feel so numb anymore, and being able to cry with Lou made me feel more relieved afterwards. Maybe being weak for a while made you stronger in the end.

After that morning, things slowly moulded themselves into a routine. I would wake up, take a shower, go to the dining pavilion with Leo, have breakfast alone. I would have my lessons and training all day, some greek mythology classes with Lou, sword fighting with Malcolm. I could not spend much time with Leo, but I would manage to escape lunch for having out-law lunch with him, cuddle and talk for a while. After my day was over, I would make him company by reading some new novel or simply staring at him while he worked. We would usually start talking about the ship and how cool it would turn out to be. I once told him to make constellation lamps for the rooms, and he said that was one cool idea. I told him I was full of them. Then he would start talking about engines and motors, at first I wouldn't get a thing, but the more we talked, the more I began to understand about machines and electronic systems. Leo made it easy for me to understand how they worked, and soon enough we could both comment on the topic. Although I knew just the theory, and there was no way I could get my hands to make anything that required wires.

After that, we would have dinner, each one at its table, and then there was the campfire. Campfires and capture-the-flag fridays were my favourites. During capture the flag, we would mainly argue on how he was not supposed to protect me, but the flag, and how I was completely capable of defending myself and the flag. The other campers loved to put us on defence together just so they would have their every friday argument. Sometimes, I felt as I was almost starting to wrap my mind about the idea of not being able to kiss him, and sometimes, I would have to remind myself to fight the urge, and it was really difficult. It was probably the same for him. Fall was coming to an end, and the magic barriers of the camp would let rain come down into the property fields, so the strawberries could get the water they needed. That's when I would spend my after training evenings standing with an umbrella next to Leo, playing to let his hair get wet. He would eventually grow tired of it and snap in flames and tell me playfully to back of. I would retreat my umbrella.

"Yeah, I'm Leo Valdez and I'm so hot I burn under the rain" I mocked him once.

"You're so gonna regret that, Liz" he told me, and threw some mud at me. I opened my mouth.

"This is war, Valdez. And you chose your opponent with terrible judgement, 'cos I never miss!"  _Splash_ , right on his face. He aimed at me several times, and missed a lot of them. I, instead, had him covered in mud.

"Okay, enough." He gave up, and grabbed my left wrist. I was left handed, so I wouldn't be able to stuck him again. "Game over. Time to make you pay." He said, and cleaned his muddy hands on my face. Then he took my hands and I let our fingers interlace. We stood closer, and I cleaned my face on his shirt. He put his arms around me and rested his hands on my hips. I rested mine interlaced around his neck. I looked up to him, and my emotions divided between joy and sorrow.

"You're so cold, Liz" he said, as he usually did. He always sounded so surprised, as if he had half expected I would heat to normal temperature the next time. I liked being cold, it made him hug me tighter and I would be able to brush my cheek against his. This kind of contact was the most intimate thing we had and I'd learnt to long for it so much, my heart ached just by touching his hand. Casualties like this one were the ones who set me thinking, and after them, I would go to the Athena cabin to borrow books on science stuff and such, for making research, and I would go to bed really late trying to figure out a way. There had to be a way.

Winter finally arrived, and one way or another, we would soon have a real hint on our situation, because Rachel would be there by Christmas break. That made us so anxious we would glare at each other from far and blush. There were fewer campers around now winter had come, but I didn't mind, because I loved winter. The cold, the scarves, the cosy scenery and all the warmth cold inspires. I loved winter specially because Leo would think I was about to become an ice cube every other minute, and he would wrap himself around me to keep me warm. Those past few weeks I had had really nice days, laughing and conquering all training classes. There were really few people who could beat me in sword fighting, and no one could shoot a bow better than me. I had to change my denim jacket for a black leather one in order to keep me from freezing under the mild camp's winter. Back home, winter was unforgiving, and being used to  _that_  cold made this way more bearable.

The first snow fall of the season, Chiron allowed us to have an activity-free day. Annabeth was the only one who didn't seem as happy with it, but she said nothing, in order not to spoil other camper's joy. Leo and I went for a walk in the woods. It was truly freezing, by then I was used to the cold, which made me  _feel_  it, so I was enjoying my opportunity to wear a scarf and a knitted hat. I needed no gloves, Leo's hands were the best thing I could wish for keeping warm. We sat there in the middle of the woods, not giving a shit about all the monsters that were supposed to be creeping around it. Leo's back was against some pine tree, and I cuddled against him. I was playing with his fingers when he withdrew one of his hands. I looked at him, frowning before pouting, asking for my hand. Snow swirled around us.

He laughed. "Don't be so conceited, I need it too, you know?" He told me, and he put it inside his pocket, looking for something he had in it. His hand came out with a beautifully shaped piece of metal that I afterwards figured was actually a piercing. It was long, so it would cover my whole ear side, in a wavish design that did not demand me to get pierced any more times*.

"My gods, Leo, it's beautiful." I told him, taking off immediately the ones I had on, to put on that one. "Does it look nice?" I asked.

"Of course it does, I made it." He answered, kissing me behind my ear. I shivered. That was more than we would usually risk. "Can I ask you something?" He was already asking something, but I nodded, taking possession of his hand again, playing with his fingers. "What does that tattoo mean?" The question got me by surprise, but I smiled.

"Butterflies are beautiful, aren't they?" I said.

"I suppose" he agreed, clearly disappointed with my answer.

"Yet some people are afraid of them, even though they are graceful and magnificent in most cases. I liked the idea of something than can be both pretty and intimidating, fragile but threatening." I confessed.

"I would've never thought of butterflies like that. Why did you get it?" He traced the butterfly on my neck with the fingers from his free hand.

"Because I needed to keep in mind that I'm like a butterfly. For some I'm cute or hot, for others I'm just weird. It doesn't matter as long as I know what am I." He chuckled.

"You're neither." Leo told me. "You are Lizzie. The girl I like for being filthy mouthed, caring and straightforward." He gave me a teasing kiss on my neck, maybe out of reflex, but we both froze as we realised what he had just done. His face said he was sorry, but I didn't want him to be. Which reminded me of something. I turned around and took off my jacket, and my gloves, and my scarf. Gods, it was  _freezing_  out here.

"What the hell..." he exclaimed, but I grabbed his face between my hands and sighed. I hoped for the best.

"So, I've been thinking about us lately, and I got the feeling you and I have some pending issues." He was staring at me like I had suddenly gone crazy. Too late for regretting this. His face danced between fear, confusion and surprise.

"Okay, whatever you say Liz, but wrap up, I don't want you to freeze out here." He pleaded and my stomach started fluttering. My heart was racing. My hands fell to my sides.

" _Bésame_ " I told him, so rushed, I forgot to talk in greek. I had clearly spoken too fast, because his bewildered expression needed no translation. I was about to pass out of anxiety and expectation. "Kiss me, you fool."

He gave me a really wounded look and smiled like I was making some kind of cruel joke, so I deciphered it would have to be just as always and I would have to take the lead. I took his face in my hands once again and I pressed my lips against his, taking advantage of his distraction at the thought of me being mean. At first, he was stiff, surprised, blocked. I was about to stop feeling my body, shaking out of control, freezing completely. And then I felt it. The warmth came right at me, right through me, right around me. I didn't care. I had been longing for this since  _forever_  and I had finally achieved it. Leo withdrew, and I was left there, completely heartbroken.  _Come back_ , I wanted to tell him. He looked at me, clearly angry.

"Do you know how incredibly dangerous and nuts was what you just did?" He asked me. I looked down, starting to freeze again. I hadn't burnt. I didn't know how, I just knew I hadn't. Nothing ached, just the sudden distance between us. He lifted my chin and made me look at him.

"Nuts and danger is mostly what I liked you for" he told me before kissing me again, this time recklessly, letting me hold him tight, not letting go.  _Thank the gods_ , I thought, as I felt joy tears running down my cheeks. They vaporised soon. "You were always so, so cold, Lizzie" he whispered between kisses. I smiled against his lips.

* * *

*In case you were wondering, this is how Affie's piercing looks like: http://piercingidea.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cartilage-ear-piercing.jpg


	8. Here comes dare

It had been so long since we first hugged in her cabin during cabin inspection, that shyness was no longer a problem. I felt more like myself now, although around her I always felt a little blue because, no matter how close we were, I always felt that impediment of kissing her made us a little apart. Cuddling and holding hands was all we had. I was the one to make it awkward, like now, when without thinking about it, I kissed her neck and then we both froze. I could already feel my body temperature rising for something so tiny. Still, it was dne, and I couldn't keep out of my head what would it be like to kiss her. She and her complicated mind decided something and she turned around, took off her jacket and held my face in her  _very cold_  hands. I started to worry about her, and her bare skin under that unforgiving cold. When she talked to me I didn't quite get what she said, I was just thinking how cold it was out here and how she was going to freeze right there in front of me if she didn't wrap up right away.

" _Ssame_ " was what I heard her say. I gave her a confused look, if she was insulting me in italian it wasn't funny. But then she repeated her order. "Kiss me, you fool." She asked me, and made my heart sank. That was so not a funny joke, was she over it so easily? 'Cos I wasn't. I could never keep out of my mind the fact that any time, any day, she could get bored of me and ran to some other guy. 'Cos I couldn't kiss her, nor could I kiss any other girl, if my fears were true, but she could. Gods, she  _had_. It made me really angry this Will guy had been able to kiss  _my_  girlfriend unwillingly and I couldn't. And the gods knew I  _really wanted_  to. I was about to tell her 'too soon, Williams' when she held my face in her hands again and pressed her lips over mine leaving me in shock.  _What was she doing_. Of course, as I figured it out, my first instinct was to answer. It felt so incredibly right I couldn't believe I'd been missing this for so long. I wanted more, I  _needed_  more, but a little voice screamed in the back of my head.  _And your love will burn with it_. I drew myself back and looked at her, scared. What had she done.

I looked everywhere by some hint of burns on her skin, but she was perfectly fine, she simply seemed concerned I had broken the contact. Did she want me to die of a heart attack? I could've hurt her, gods, I could've killed her. I could've turned her to ashes right like I'd done with my mom, and I would've never forgiven myself if I'd hurt her. But she didn't have a scratch and I sighed with relief, told her she was nuts.

And then I gave in. I brushed my lips against hers, and she was so close, and so cold I thought I could just never keep her warm enough. There must have passed a couple minutes until we finally came apart. I'd thought I had been complete that morning in her cabin a couple weeks ago, when I held her tight and we unsaid the things we needed to say. Hell, I was wrong,  _now_  I was complete. I kept brushing her hair with my hands, which was so soft. I kissed her cheeks a couple times, I was so glad I couldn't stop grinning.

"How did you do it? I need to know the secret so I can instruct my next girlfriend" I joked, but as she gave me an angry look, my expression changed to one that said _too soon?_ "No, but seriously. How did you know?" I had to ask.

"I didn't" she confessed. We were whispering, but I didn't mind. "I took a guess. I figured prophecies were about things that may change the world's fate, and somehow I could not believe me burning right now would make a change in the world." She explained while playing with the zipper of my jacket. She could never stay still, her tiny hands played with everything she could find... grass, wires, my hair, whatever she found first.

"It would make a change in  _my_  world." I told her. She gasped.

"Leo..." she began, but I knew what she was thinking. She hadn't burnt now, but that didn't mean she was safe. She would eventually burn, and we wouldn't be able to avoid it. I really didn't want to think about that, so I shushed her and kissed her again. We made out and rested there. Soon enough she was playing with my hands once more, after I'd forced her to put on her jacket. "Let's take a nap" she suggested, with her eyelids closed, her head resting on my chest.

"A nap?" She always had the strangest ideas, yet I always ended up acceding to her requests.

"Yup, a siesta, but you have to actually nap. No creepy spying on my sleep." She joked.

"Hey, now it wouldn't be stalking, I'm your boyfriend, you know."

"That's exactly what a stalker would say." She dozed off, though, leaning against me. She fell asleep with my hands in hers, so I was trapped. Her breathing was so quiet and controlled.  _What the hell_ , I thought, and fell asleep as well.

I woke up with sunshine on my face. It had stopped snowing. By the position of the sun in the sky, I could tell it was almost lunch time. We had lost all morning. She groaned, clearly not happy to wake up. She was quite cute, like a sleepy puppy trying to ignore the activity around it so it can keep on sleeping, which made me feel really sorry for waking her up. I played with her hair, tangling it, which would probably make her mad once she found out, but until then wouldn't hurt.

"Rise and shine, sleepy head." I told her. Watching her with her 'I just woke up, don't bother me' face made my heart skip a beat. What would it be like to wake up every morning to that face?

"I hate when people wake me up" she complained.

"It's almost lunch."

"Food is good." She sighed and got to her feet. One second to another, she was fully awake. I was never able to do that. I was usually sleepy for a while after waking up, never able to be truly awake until I had taken a shower. Affie had different methods, though. She gave me her hand and helped me up, kissing me when I got to my feet. That was a pretty good way to wake me up completely. "Let's go" she commanded, and dragged me away. I looked back just a sec, and I saw all the snow at the bottom of the tree had melted, and the tree trunk was slightly burnt. I knew I was hot, but this was ridiculous.

When we got to the dining pavilion we parted, but before she could walk away, I grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back to me, kissed her and then let her go. I needed everyone to see she was my girlfriend, and I could kiss her, and she was  _mine_. So everyone had to stop dreaming about her 'cos she was definitely under the Leo-spell. Then, there was general excitement. I had to breathe deeply to turn off the little flames that were igniting all over me, but not such thing as a big deal. The girls from the Aphrodite cabin giggled when I walked by but it was too late for them. The Leo-train was long gone for them. Sold out.

Jake patted me on the back and said "Finally, man." I could only laugh gleefully. During the meal I kept glancing at Eros' table. Affie made faces everytime I looked at her. When I dared to look to the main table, where Chiron was sitting, I saw Rachel was sitting there too, with a worried expression, which sank all my happiness. Something in it made me preoccupied as well. As if my suspicions had been right, Chiron called council meeting right after lunch. My stomach tied itself in a bow. Affie, Piper, Jason and Annabeth had the same nervous looks.

We got together around the pin-pong table. Jason, Miranda Gardiner, Clarisse, Annabeth, Will Solace, Piper, Travis and Connor Stoll, Pollux, Butch, Clovis and Affie were there. Lou Ellen had attended even when she was sick with flu of some kind after a spell-gone-wrong or something. Ian Roberts from the Nike cabin, David Harris from the Tyche cabin, Elise from the Hebe cabin, and Lorelai Richmond from the Nemesis cabin were there too. The place was quite crowded. Chiron had had to attend in compact human form for all of us to fit in there. Rachel took a place next to Chiron.

"You could think about making this place bigger. Put a pool too, or something." I said, and I could immediately notice my suggestion wasn't welcomed. Chiron shot me a warning look.

"So, a quest has been issued. I believe Áfua will want to take a comfortable position before hearing the news." He warned. Silence fell. I was quite sure the temperature there dropped a couple degrees. Affie held my hand, I could tell she was scared. "Áfua, your mother has contacted camp. A gegeine came into their hotel room in Washington and took your sister; we have reasons to believe it's connected to the quest. Hera herself has commanded that three demigods must go south and retrieve something that has been stolen. The details will be given to those who are to complete the quest."

Affie froze and even her grip on my hand loosened. I thought she might pass out, but she slowly blinked and came back to reality, Lou put a hand on her shoulder. The mischievous look in Hecate's daughter had always made me quite uncomfortable, but she and Affie got along just fine. "I'll go." She stated. I wanted to tell her how dangerous quests were, but her sister had been kidnapped, and I had nothing to tell her that would be enough to make her desist of taking the quest. The room kept silent, yet no one objected.

"So, Áfua Williams, you may choose two companions and you may consult the Oracle of Delphi, with its hostess here, Rachel Dare."

"Anyone I pick may join me?" She seemed different,  _colder_. Chiron nodded.

I have to admit I expected her to choose me first and not even wait for me to say whether I wanted to go with her or not, and then she would obviously need to make a choice because Lou wasn't in conditions of joining us. I was pretty sure it'd be me she'd pick first, so when she turned to Annabeth I felt surprised, and a little jealous. Did I inspire so little trustworthiness?

"You are wisdom's daughter. Who do you recommend?" Affie asked, and I suddenly understood why did she do it. She wasn't thinking on a pleasure trip. She was thinking of how to save her sister's life. She was ready for leaving with the meanest members from both the Aphrodite and the Ares cabins if that was what it took to bring her sister home safe.

"I think you should talk to Rachel first, then decide." Annabeth adviced.

"Well, then" Rachel spoke up. "I will take a walk with her. I think the rest of you are dismissed. You will be updated on the situation as soon as she has made up her mind, if you are asked to accompany her or, on the contrary, you will be notified of the quest's details later tonight."

Thank the gods, it'd been an activity-free day, 'cos otherwise I could easily tell Annabeth would've made me go back to work on the Argo II. Instead, I stood outside the Big House, waiting for Affie to come back. I hated when Chiron referred to her, mainly because I really disliked her name, for some reason I could not quite understand. The nickname her sister had given her, on the other hand, that one I liked. Lou gave an apologetic smile to Affie, as she walked off with Rachel, and then got on her way as well. Piper and Annabeth walked off, but Jason stayed to chat.

"Saw you on fire today at lunch. Bragging is wrong, you should know that." He began.

"Couldn't help it... I'm sick worried for her, man. What if I don't get to go with her? She's choosing with her brain, she's like an automaton right now. She's got only one goal: saving her sister. I fear that may lead her into making big mistakes."

"Women are too complicated, Leo." He told me. I thought he was kidding, but when I looked at him, he looked pretty serious.

"You kidding. I thought they were a piece of cake." I used my beloved sarcasm.

"Ha ha, very funny, but my point here is you just gotta stick around and catch them if they fall. Captivating girls are like that, they make you feel helpless and you hang on to the hope they'll screw up and you'll be able to help them. They usually never do. And you won the lottery of captivating girls, Leo." I could understand Jason's logic, but it was so deep it freaked me out.

"Dude, you got a bit carried away." Jason looked at me, like I got him out of some trance. He laughed, and I did too.

We waited there something like twenty minutes, and talked over the Argo II, training, girls. He had been training hard, since he had nothing to do but waiting until the ship was ready. He was a son of Zeus, he was meant for battle, not forging, he was no blacksmith nor engineer. When Rachel and Affie came back, some blonde dude was with them, who I later recognised as Annabeth's brother, Malcolm. He had a sword hanging from his belt. As she walked fast, going straight into the Big House, Affie pointed at me.

"You are coming with me." I grinned.  _Told ya_. I walked after her, waving off Jason with my best smirk of 'duty calls', which made him laugh.

"Yes, ma'am" I told Affie, but she did not turn around, not even for giving me an angry look.

 

We all stood again around the ping-pong table, but at least now we had nachos. Some thoughtful being had put some guacamole too, thank the gods. I owed Affie one, this had been her motion. I grabbed some and started chewing, trying to get hold of my nerves. Chiron was sitting on a corner. Rachel seemed quite fond of Affie, even when they'd talked for barely half an hour. Then again, it had taken me just an afternoon to fall hard for her. It wasn't hard for Affie getting people to like her.

"Rachel has spoken a prophecy for the quest." Chiron announced. "Could you repeat it, for all of us to hear it, please?"

Rachel cleared her throat. " _Three shall meet the partying one_  


_and shall rescue the young._

_Fire will burn, and your love will burn with it,_

  
_for only two the missing ones shall retrieve_."

"So one of us is not coming back." Malcolm summed up. Such a ray of sunlight, this Malcolm guy.

"We've trained together in sword fighting class, and your sister Annabeth, whom I've taken advice from, spoke very highly of you. I need wisdom in my trip, and you're one of Athena's children. However, you are able to accept or decline my request to join me. It's up to you." Affie spoke up.

He nodded. "I'll go."

"It doesn't necessarily mean that whoever is not coming back will die" Rachel explained. "It's a riddle, but it doesn't say  _death_ , so we have some probabilities of it being, you know, just staying somewhere else and not coming back to camp." We knew it was very unlikely, but since it was a spirit lifter, we took it.

"So, Áfua, you'll take Leo and Malcom with you. Hera gave quite specific directions. You must leave before Winter Solstice, that being two days from today. You have three days to retrieve what has been stolen, save your sister and be back at camp."

I took the word then. "What has been stolen?" Because if he'd said it before, I hadn't heard him.

"Eros' bow and quiver." Rachel answered.

"What?" This time, it was Affie who seemed surprised. "Are you telling me I have to retrieve something my father lost? Can't he, like, go and retrieve it himself?"

"Gods need demigods because of the several tasks they cannot complete. This is one of them. Great honour, to be able to help your own parent." Affie gave him an 'if you say so' look and went back to being silent. Chiron told us we would be given supplies and transport. We would start our search at Baltimore, when the police last reported track of Affie's sister. He told us we were to leave at first hour the next day, and although I could see Affie wanted to protest, she understood we needed to rest well to start the quest in the best possible conditions. We took our leave. I walked up to Affie, but she was talking to Malcolm, probably chatting about strategies. I had hoped we would use our remaining time to rest and make out (hey, I had just been able to kiss my girlfriend for the first time that morning) but apparently she had things to plan. She mouthed something like  _sneak_  and  _tonight_ , so I figured she meant I would have to sneak into her cabin tonight. I got a tingling sensation at the back of my neck.

I decided to make up for the days I'd be gone, so I walked towards Bunker 9, where Annabeth was looking over some last changes I'd done to the Argo II. She was the only one from the ones who were going to visit roman camp soon that understood anything about engineering.

"Gonna do extra hours, boss" I announced, but her sad look made me think maybe she just missed Percy. It's been a perfectly nice day for cuddling and watching the snow fall, and I knew that very well myself.

* * *

I'm sorry, I know what I'm going to say might be understood as bragging, but I truly do not intend so. Ii just wanted to point out... did you see what I did in the title? Did you?


	9. Lit the chimney

As I had been told, Rachel was a super nice girl when she wasn't spitting out the ways you might die surrounded in green mist. I guess most people could fit that description pretty well. She had warned me not to freak out and stuff, but the conversation started super non-quest related. I was sick worried about my sister, but the question caught me by surprise.

"So, I heard you are Leo's girlfriend?" That kind of introduction made me jumpy and got my defences up.

"Yeah, got any problems?" I answered rudely, even when it was a pretty normal question coming from someone who knew Leo longer than I did. I had been rude, so it surprised me when she cracked up and started laughing. I blushed.

"I had been told you were serious stuff, but this is incredible." She said between laughs, trying to catch her breath. "It is unbelievable he got a girl like you."

I thought Leo was very, very handsome. A bit way too childish most of the time, but handsome. So it got my curiosity when she made that comment. "Why?"

"He likes aiming way too far. He keeps falling for girls who are impossible for him to date. Well,  _kept_. He  _is_  dating you." I kept getting redder and redder. Did Leo like me at first because he thought I was out of reach for him? And to think I had thought of him as some latino heartbreaker, since he  _was_  a bit of a jerk when he wanted to.

My plans of a whole day with Leo were more than ruined by the time we got to the Big House. After listening to the prophecy, I knew my sister was going to be okay, or so I hoped, so I got just a bit more relaxed about this quest. I could now choose the people I'd like to face life or death situations with, I could now choose who to trust with my life. That meant I had to choose just one person, 'cos whether I was taking Leo with me or not was out of question. If there was any possibility of me not coming back to camp, I had to spend the last days I had before my parting with him. I caught Annabeth on the way, and asked her to join me, but she said she couldn't come with us. If Leo was going away, she had to supervise the advances on the Argo II and she could risk no delays. Then I told her I would feel better if I had a child of Athena with me and she suggested one of her brethren, Malcolm. He was sure nice, we had practised sword fight together a couple classes, and he told us he would listen to the prophecy first and then would make a decision. Since he was likely to be risking his life, I agreed to his terms. The quest meeting was brief and straight to the bone. I had been eating nachos during the almost ten minutes it took us to decide everything, so I was relieved it was over. On my way out, I started talking with Malcolm about our plans. We would start on Baltimore but then, where to? And we had to try to decipher the riddles of the prophecy. Also, would we travel by land? Annabeth had told me it was dangerous, but Rachel had told me not to worry about it. I knew right away it would take me the rest of the day, so when Leo walked towards me I mouthed to him 'I'll kiss you goodnight'. Hopefully, he got the message alright. Hopefully.

I came into my cabin feeling completely exhausted, I had never thought so much in my life. I fell on the sofa and read a chapter of my last book. Athena's cabin was crowded with them, but there were no novels at all, just science, math and philosophy books. Although I almost lost my breath when I saw their collection of greek epic stories in their original greek. It was just amazing, and I made a mental note to loan them if I ever came back. I just couldn't wait to read  _The Odyssey_  or  _The Iliad_  in its original greek. Even so, I kept wondering what was wrong with fantasy books. They developed your imagination, and they were such fun. I opened my book and, for an entire chapter, I was a half-blood of some other kind, learning spells and waving a wand, flying top speed on a broom towards a castle in Scotland. When I was done with the chapter, I closed the book, opened the window to get some cool winter air for a little while, and took a shower. I had my pyjamas on, which were a black tank top, thin patterned Hello Kitty shorts and Hello Kitty slippers (the cheapest thing I could find near there), and I started spreading cream on my legs when out of the corner of my eye I saw a dark silhouette.

"Holy Eros!" I took one slipper off and aimed, but the shadow talked.

"Whoa, whoa. There, hold it. Don't wanna ruin this angelical face." I concentrated and made out Leo in front of me.

"Leo! You scared the shit out of me." I said, recovering my breath. Then, I blushed, I was in pyjamas, my hair wet, a slipper on my hand. "How long..."

"Not much, sadly. Those are some incredibly well moisturised legs, though. Could I know your secret?" I felt the blood rush to my face. He was just standing there, smirking in a way that either said 'go on, this is probably my best idea ever' or 'I'm a jerk, I know, but you still like me'. No matter whichever was the correct option, I held my slipper higher and walked towards him.

"What are you doing here? How did you come in?" I could see him swallowing back the laughter. "And what's so funny? I know I can't knock you out with this slipper, but I'm pretty sure it'll still hurt like hell."

"It's just that since you're so tough and bad and whatsoever, I never imagined you would sleep in Hello Kitty pyjamas." He checked me from head to toes and gave me a sly smile. I shivered. "Very rude indeed."

"I asked you what are you doing here, and how did you get in."

"You told me to come by! You were quite explicit, I thought you were expecting me, but I didn't mind the casual welcome. I got in by the window, thought you left it open on purpose..." he must've seen my incredulous expression, 'cos he faltered. "Look, if you didn't want me to come, that's okay, I'll leave, but you mouthed to me to 'sneak in your cabin tonight' and, correct me if I'm wrong, now is tonight." Now I was the one laughing, gods, this was gold, pure gold. "What?" He asked, his confidence suddenly leaving him when I laughed at him.

"I mouthed at you that 'I would kiss you goodnight', I never asked you to sneak into my cabin. I didn't see you around when I was done reviewing stuff with Malcolm, so I figured you'd gone to bed. You really thought I would ask you to do something like this?" He blushed, clearly ashamed. He gave me this look... oh. So maybe he got me wrong, maybe it wasn't  _that_  crazy he had understood that. The candles flickered on.

"Uhm... so, nice candles. I hadn't noticed them before." He was deliberately changing the subject, and I didn't know what to say either, so I followed him.

"Yeah, you were too busy..."  _Hugging me_ , I thought, remembering the first time he had been in here. Also, the last time he had been here. "They are enchanted. Lou helped me with them, they flicker on to create ambiance."

"Ambience?"

"Yeah, for you know, cosiness. And that kind of stuff." Everytime our eyes met, we would look away, awkwardly.

"So maybe I should go." He figured and I agreed.

"Yeah, maybe." As he was walking towards the door, some of my neurones started working again and shrieked.  _What_  was I doing? I threw my slipper and it hit him right where his cowlicks started. He handled his head as he turned to face me, a bit moody, looking for an explanation. I laughed nervously. "Didn't you come for a good night kiss? So kiss me, you fool."

He smiled sideways and walked back to me in two strides. He took my hands with his. "As the lady commands." He whispered, leaning to kiss me. Our noses rubbed each other for a second, and then he was kissing me, and all my problems seemed to have gone away. He soon forgot my hands and held me by the waist, while my fingers got entertained tracing the shape of the muscles in his strong blacksmith arms. We slowly walked until I hit a wall behind me. He cornered me, I smiled. I lifted my hands and started messing his hair and he groaned in delight. By then I could feel he was on fire, so I opened my eyes out of curiosity. He inspired me fearful fascination with his bronze skin, his blazing eyes. I stared at him in awe.

"What?" He asked when he caught me staring.

"I was wondering if you could turn on the chimney." I blurted out. I hadn't been wondering exactly that but, whatever. Benefits of having a boyfriend on fire.

"I was told this would happen" he complained. "Your girlfriend will take advantage of you. She'll use you as a hand warmer first, then she'll use you as a stove. Soon she'll ask you all kind of weird things, like to lit on her chimney and to microwave her lunch. May I know what comes afterwards?" He thought he was so funny, my poor boyfriend. He still walked to the fireplace and lit the wood that was there. It cracked as it burnt. How was it possible I was still alive?

I walked to the fireplace and sit on the cushions. "Come here" I whispered. He leaned, kneeling in front of me, always taller. "You sure like being taller." I mocked.

"Does not happen often." I put my hand on his burning cheek. It felt warm, but not even half as warm as hot water when I was drinking tea or melted candle wax when it accidentally poured over my skin. So why was I safe? "I don't know either" he said, as if reading my thoughts. "But I don't complain." He kissed me again. We kissed a lot, like if we knew somehow that we didn't have much time left for doing so.

If you asked me, I wouldn't have mind giving in completely that night. I trusted Leo, I knew he would never hurt me, not even his flames dared to burn me. It wouldn't have been a crossroad to decide whether to have sex with him or not. But I thought I didn't want to make that night some sort of good bye. So we ended up cuddling on my bed, no need for covers. We dozed off with his arms wrapped around me, as if we were going to do that a thousand times more and there was no need to rush anything, 'cos we had the rest of our lives for getting to third base, or having sex, or whatever you wanna call it.

There's no way to be ready for it, that's for sure, it either happens or not. And it didn't happen, and I wasn't any less happy. I wish my dreams had been as wonderful as I felt while falling asleep. At some point, in the middle of the night, before I started dreaming, I woke up, and caught Leo staring at me.

"You sure like watching me sleep, don't you?" I said, groggily. He smiled in the dark.

"I do." He confessed.

"Leo, I know it might be a little rushed to say this, but..." he shushed me.

" _Yo también te amo*_ , Lizzie." He said, holding me tighter, my heart skipping all its beats for a while, and I looked to my left to kiss his shoulder over mine. I fell asleep right after that.

In my dreams, I was a delicate butterfly overflying a building in flames. Leo was standing there, holding some girl in his arms, Malcolm stood next to him with a hand on Leo's shoulders, further, a little girl sobbed. I felt incredibly sad, even when I wanted to feel jealous of that random girl he was holding. I felt terribly sad, and I didn't know why.

I saw my little sister, Jessie, laughing and hugging her teddy toad. She always carried it. I had won it for her in some funfair, and even though it wasn't the most girly toy in the world, she loved it. She was following the ugliest thing I had ever seen in my life. It had humanoid form, yet it had six arms and it was sure as hell the most disgusting being I have seen so far. My sister did not seem scared, though. She was jumping and giggling after the gegeine. I wanted to tell her to run away, but no matter how hard I tried, she could not listen to me.

"Where are we going?" She asked, reaching for one of the creature's hands, holding it as if it were mine, or my mother's.

"You'll see" a voice said. The mud lady had materialised out of nowhere, no longer a beggar, but some solemnly looking woman, walking sleepily next to my sister.

"I wanna go to the zoo" my sister said. "I wanna see a lion and I want it to roaaar." Her poor imitation of a lion made my heart sink. She definitely was my sister. I shrieked and my dream changed.

I was no longer looking at my sister, but at some fat dude with horrible clothing taste drinking diet coke at what looked like a latino Christmassy party. Or so I thought it was, but as I payed more attention to details, I could see the latino thing was just the music, cumbia or salsa or whatever the DJ thought was nicer for the next performance. Latin also were the dancers on stage that had Santa suits who were excessively short. And tiny. Outside the place was probably freezing, but the dancers didn't seem to mind having so little on, so I figured the temperature there was several degrees over what the weather report said it would be. A sign on a corner read 'Latino Paradise' and something in the ambiance told me minors weren't allowed in there. I tried to talk to the man in the leopard t-shirt, but he ignored me. And I was  _sure_  he could hear me.

"Fuck" I swore, and the dream started fading. I woke up when dawn hadn't started yet. Leo was staring at me, with a playful grin.

"You?" He asked. I lifted an eyebrow, sleepy and confused.

"You said 'fuck' and I was just wondering whether you were just cursing or if you want me to..."

"Why do you have to be such a douche so early in the morning?" I asked, becoming slowly more awake.

"Because you love me that way" he said confidently and I just sighed, looking up in my best attempt of 'for the love of all gods'. He just reached for my hands. I hadn't noticed how cold they were until he grabbed them.

"You'd better get going." I told him. "People won't believe our story of last night, not in a thousand eons, and even if they did, we still would've broken the rules."

"You are a terribly boring girl. Tell me again  _why_  am I dating you?" He said, with faked grumpiness.

"Because" I told him "I have very well moisturised legs." I got out of bed and kissed him briefly, leaning over him for just a moment. His mouth was warm, and it had the scent of smoke. You cheater I thought, since I hadn't brushed my teeth but he had made a combustion inside his mouth to kill any bad smell. I didn't worry about me, everybody always thought I had the best breath ever, always had the scent of cherries. It took me until I reached Camp Half-Blood to understand maybe it had something to do with Eros being my father. I mean, a good breath is a must for flirting and stuff, so, maybe. Our lips parted and I walked towards the bathroom. I looked at him from the door. "When I come back, you won't be there, you hear me?" He shook his head, playfully, but I knew he was kidding.

"Are we leaving after breakfast?" He groaned, rolling over the bed.

"I think so, but I got to go to the Arts & Crafts room before leaving." I closed the bathroom door. When I got out, after the last decent shower I would have for I didn't know how long, he wasn't there anymore. I must admit I'd half expected for him to stay, but I told myself it was better this way. I could no longer get distracted, it was my sister's life that was on the line. Still, I wondered if it was just so easy for him to leave, or had he wanted to stay. Stay and cuddle, forgetting about the world. Stay and kiss, feeling home in his arms. I noticed I was crying, unable to avoid the thought of last night's dream. Who was that girl? Why was I so sad to see him hold her? I hadn't liked the tone of my dream, and I wasn't sure I ever would.

* * *

 

**Translations:**

*I love you too.


	10. Latino Paradise

Last night repeated over and over in my head. Her hands in my hair, that fiery sensation, not only because I was on fire but because she was there, standing, looking at me, with her tiny lips, her soft skin. So soft. I had been holding back for so long I hadn't know how much I craved her until that very morning, and it had been so brief, mainly because fear hadn't left us completely. I had been needing it, and she was so sweet... it was just so easy to love her. To love her, and her soft curves, her sweet skin.

My heart had felt like a humming bird all night, being barely able to sleep, knowing she was right there. She was sleeping with the piercing I had gifted her on. She was pressing it against the pillow and I wondered if it made her uncomfortable. Her hair had some locks which were the same colour as her eyes. I could remember when she had first dyed them. We had just a couple of days dating and people did not understand a thing about us 'cos they saw a lot of hugging and holding hands but no kissing. She had come up to me and showed me her hair, clearly excited about it.

"It's Red Passion from Manic Panic." She told me.

"Passion, huh?" She blushed, and I thought she was so cute, but then she punched me on my right arm, reminding me not to let my guard down. You might think a girl's punch is like the touch of a soft teddy bear, and you might usually be right. But even when she claimed she'd never trained before Camp Half-Blood, Affie's fists had incredible strength, and when she punched you, it hurt like... a lot.

So yeah, the few reddish stripes on her hair shone with the flickering light from a few candles left on. I wondered how did them work. Did they have some kind of switch? Or some lighting system based on where she stepped on? I didn't like magic, 'cos it made things work without engines, oil nor circuits, it didn't have a specified system nor a program. I could not understand its ways, so I couldn't trust it.

She woke up when I was about to decide to go to sleep, and her small figure moved next to me. I could never get used to the sensation of her body between my arms, her back protected by my chest. When she talked, I knew it. I knew what I felt, and I knew she felt it too. So I told her, and she fell asleep just as quickly as before. I pulled her closer, her crown right under my chin, and I finally fell asleep, surrounded by her scent, a blooming bouquet of lilies.

I woke up by early morning, very early morning. I had not slept much and I'd had terrible nightmares, so I decided to rest instead, watching Affie sleep. My dreams had started with a slow motion repetition of my mother's death. I had tried to change the dream, twist it, but it was no use. I saw myself, I saw Gaea, and I saw the repair shop burn down. Over the ruins, as if mocking me, a tiny butterfly flew over the ashes in sad circles. It looked like it didn't know where to land. It came and rested on my shoulder, and after a second it flew away. The butterfly stopped mid flight and caught fire as well, her remains falling to the ground. Maybe I had burnt the butterfly too.

My dream changed. I was in the middle of some kind of parade, full of colours and people in strange outfits. It made me think a bit of the goddess Iris, seeing so many rainbows around me. Yet if she was there, she didn't show up. A dude in his early twenties caught my attention. He had slightly tanned skin and he was quite tall. His hair was light brown, yet I could not see his face. He was wearing some tight white jeans and a red shirt that matched his red converse. I hate to admit this, I don't know exactly why, but something on him made me think he was smoking hot. And gods, if there is someone who knows about either smoke or hot, that's definitely me. I still couldn't see his face but I needed to. He didn't turn to me, but he spoke to me.

"She was made for you." He told me, and I looked around the crowd trying to see who was he referring to, but I saw no one. Just as I was asking him who was he talking about, the dream dissolved. So yeah, I woke up repulsed by the idea of thinking the guy in my dreams hot, holding Affie tighter than I should, shaken by the memory of my mother's death. Maybe an hour later, she woke up. I couldn't believe the first thing she said in the morning was swearing. Wasn't she unbelievable, I felt suddenly really lucky. I made a lame joke that got me an angry look, and soon enough she was no longer next to me, and I kept looking for her shape, sleepily, until she came to me and kissed me good morning. Thank the gods, I had seen her leaning on me two seconds before she kissed me, so I had time for a quick combustion inside my mouth. Hers tasted like cherries, and I had no idea how did she do it.

  
_Mornin'_  I thought, letting her intoxicating flavour invade me. She then told me to get out. What a girl, huh? I sneaked out of her cabin the best I could, the light of dawn threatening to catch me. I had successfully entered my cabin when a light flickered on. It was Nyssa. And Jake. And Christopher, Shane, Harley... and all of my siblings.

"So, tell us why not to throw you into the Canoe Lake" Nyssa spoke up.

"Because it would boil if you threw such hot stuff inside, and the naiads would lose their minds?" I tried my best.

"Wrong answer" said Jake, and all the members of my brethren betrayed me and took me to the Canoe Lake for a refreshing morning shower. Oh, did I mention the lake was half frozen? I had to melt ice to reach the surface and get some air, my lungs burning from the cold water surrounding me. Don't ask me how did I melt the ice, cause I have no freaking idea. So yeah, refreshing bath. Cold water was said to be good for circulation and skin care. Whoever stated that was out of its mind. They all slapped me on the back, and Nyssa gave me a warning look.

"Even if you like cold showers, I would suggest you not to bring her into your private room. You may think it's soundproof. Yet not  _that_  soundproof." I blushed, and they all laughed. Would they believe me if I said nothing happened? I thought of saying something on my behalf, but I ended up telling myself silence was the best option.

After breakfast, Malcolm, Affie and I met at the entrance of the Arts & Crafts building. She said it would only take her a while, but if there was ever a moment for her to turn into a very girly girlfriend who can make five minutes last hours, she chose it to be right then.

"You know, you didn't need to immortalise my beautiful profile on a painting just before leaving. You could've waited until we got back" I joked. She shot me a deadly look. Okay, no more jokes.

"It was for the quest." She explained. "I had this dream-" I looked at her, concerned.

"Really? You looked quite peacefully while sleeping last night." I told her. She blushed and slapped her face with her left hand before looking up in some 'why do I have such a brainless boyfriend' gesture that made me feel quite offended. Then Malcolm's eyes widened and looked at us. I gave her an apologetic look.  _Uh, my bad_.

"Did the two of you..." he analysed us, narrowing his eyes. "Uh, for gods' sake."

The poor Malcolm looked as if he had just realised he was being third wheel on this trip. Only that he was necessary because otherwise our quest was doomed. We walked up to the Big House and took off. Malcolm sat at the front of the van, clearly avoiding to sit in the back with us. He kept looking at the map he had on his lap, and since I'd had so little sleep that night, I was soon asleep using Affie's shoulder for a pillow. Being able to fall asleep was a relief, 'cos I usually got car sick and I had maybe slept next to Affie last night, but I don't think I should've pushed my luck  _that_  far. She was reading something and clearly didn't mind, 'cos as I was falling asleep, I felt her tilt her head, resting it against mine.

"Leo" a voiced called me. "Leo, wake up, we're almost there." I opened my eyes, and I felt disoriented. Where was I? I went to sleep resting on my girlfriend's shoulder, and now my head was resting on... was that a knee? I looked up, and saw Affie looking at me, smiling with entertained guilt. What had this evil woman done to me now?

"I think the book's spine is now marked on your forehead" she notified me. The what on my forehead? And then I understood. She had used my face as a table to rest her book on while reading. Malcolm laughed from the front seat.

"I'm not a desk, Williams."

"You might as well be, once you fell asleep, you didn't notice a thing of what was happening around you. Using you as a desk is the last thing I did with you, you fool." Told you. Evil woman. She probably used me as a pillow, punching bag, snack table, and only the gods know what else before I woke up. She definitely abused of her good relationship with me.

"I'm so breaking up with you, Liz" I told her. "You just want me for my body." I said with the most dramatically hurt tone I was capable of.

"It'd be interesting. Do so." She agreed. "I'll just make my list shorter while you decide you like it when I use you." She said, very confident.

"What list?" I asked immediately.

"Let me think, I think it started with the counsellor from the Iris cabin, that rainbow tattoo really suits him..." She said, looking up as if trying to remember the rest. I looked at her incredulous. "Just kidding, you fool. My list begins with Leo" she brushed some locks off my forehead. "And ends with Valdez." I had started feeling sleepy again, the gentle caress of her fingers on my face making me feel very comfortable.

"Af, found the place you told me about." Malcolm said from the front seat. He didn't sound so uncomfortable anymore. Maybe our stupid argument made him feel less awkward.

"Cool. Do you know if we can get there from where the van is leaving us?" She asked. Wait a second, since when did him call her 'Af'?

"Yeah, definitely, it's not far off, we can even walk there. But I have no idea how are we getting im. This is no place for minors, it is known for its bachelorette parties and, uhm, its  _striptease_  dancers." Whoa, we were stepping into some club? Illegally? Could this get any better?

"Oh, don't worry for that. I've got it covered."

So when Affie said she had taken care of it, it'd never come  _this_  to mind. We'd had to change at a gas station a block or so from the club. The van would be waiting for us until we were done with this part of the quest, so we left our stuff there. Affie gave us some bags and told us to change. When I saw what was in the bag, I wanted to go back to Half-Blood Hill. I had not signed up for this. I walked outside right away, finding Malcolm in escape mode too, but as we opened the door, ready to begin the withdrawal, we found Affie arm crossed, tapping impatiently the floor with her shoes.

"I won't change until I make sure you are ready." She stated, and we went back to the services. Curse moody girlfriends.

Malcolm looked at me pleadingly. "Do you think you could talk her into..."

"I don't think so." I admitted and we both changed, not without complaining over and over again about the costumes.

When we stepped outside, Affie was no longer there.  _Damn_ , I thought. I could've run away and I missed the chance. When I'd looked at Malcolm, inside the restroom, we both laughed hysterically at each other's costumes. He was some sort of sexy Santa and I got the steampunk Christmas elf outfit, which was unfair, because I should've definitely been the sexy Santa. I was wondering whether Affie had gotten the reindeer when the women's services' door opened and I shivered. This truly hot chick, the hottest chick you could ever imagine stepped out. She had feverishly long black boots, with endless heels. She had a Santa girl corset-like top and skirt. A very, very short skirt. And what a rear merchandise...

"Valdez!" Affie's voice shook me off my trance. Gods, I was in problems, checking out another girl. I looked behind the Santa girl for her, but I slowly realised the voice had come  _from_  the Santa girl. I looked at the girl, and I'm ashamed to admit it was the first time I focused on her face. Under some black eyeliner and bright red rouge, was my girlfriend, Affie, accusingly looking at me.

"Liz?" I asked, as if not believing what my eyes saw. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Malcolm in shock as well, with the slight difference he knew how to hide it better.

"Were you checking me out, Valdez?" I swallowed. Long boots, elbow-lengthen satin red gloves, very short skirt, very low neckline. Gods, maybe I  _should've_  tried harder last night. I wanted to take her and hide her where only I could see her. Sharing the simple right to look at her with anyone made me incredibly jealous. I was now facing the hottest girl on Earth, and I could not completely wrap my mind around the fact she was  _my_  girlfriend. It was too good to be true.

"Uhm, no. I was thinking that's a very... short, I mean, well manufactured costume." Yeah, it was definitely the costume.

"Checking the costume, Zeus' balls." A thunder cracked not very far from us. "I want you focused on the quest."

"You're a knockout." Malcolm finally said. Evidently, he couldn't hold it any longer. "I mean, you should put something on, you can't walk through the streets like that." Well, finally we agreed on something.

"Of course I am-. And no, that would be stupid, because then dressing up like this wouldn't serve its purpose" she said, like he had stated the obvious. "Now, let's go."

As we walked towards the club, my decision that this was the best quest ever, started fading. First, everybody was eating my girlfriend with their eyes and I was so not liking that. Second, I looked like the third wheel now, being the steampunk Christmas elf and them being the sexy Santa couple. Not fair. When I complained, Affie got closer to me, sticking to my arm, making me uncomfortably aware of her neckline against me. And not only her neckline. She started playing with my braces.

"I made you the elf because with those pointy ears and that tool belt, you definitely had to be it." She whispered to my ear. I was trying very,  _very_  hard not to blow up in flames in the middle of the street. "If it makes you feel any better, I really like you in that outfit, you know." When I shared the thought of she had Malcolm walking in less clothes than me, she blushed, with something I hadn't seen in her before, and I felt aroused when I noticed it was jealousy. "We have to sneak into that place, and even though I tried my best to make the costumes believable, I couldn't stand the thought of a lot of girls around you. And I don't want any of them to even  _look_  at you, so I hid as much of you as I could. Because you're  _mine_." The possessive tone in her voice was much more than I could stand, so I started steaming right away. Hadn't I been freezing without a jacket, I would've bursted in flames.

See, that was the third terrible thing. We were freezing. And I had to stay in-character so I couldn't wrap up Affie with my arms. And even if I could, I wasn't sure whether I would be able to  _just_  hug her in that outfit.

When we reached the entrance of the club, the guard gave us suspicious looks. Affie immediately stepped forward, glancing at the guy's name tag (Jorge) and starting to talk to him in spanish. I didn't like the conversation they had. The guy had said at first that we weren't on the performers' list, so we couldn't go in. Then, Affie started playing with the buttons of his shirt, giving him suggestive looks, a pleading face and a pouty mouth that made me count to a million and still had me heating up. When the guy let us in, I gave him my best hate look.

" _Aléjate de ella_.*" I told him, following my girlfriend close. Inside the place, there were a lot of girls in Santa outfits, and even less clothes than Affie, but none of them was just as stunning. Maybe that's why no one forbid her to get on stage.

"I'll look for the dude I saw in dreams from the stage." She said. "You stay alert. No drinking, no getting touched and, of course, no stripping." She said the last thing looking straight into my eyes. Her eyes tore through mine saying 'don't you dare betray me'. Before I could stop her from getting on stage, she was already up there. A thousand men clapped and cheered for her and she smiled and danced her way to a fat dude in a leopard shirt. That was the guy from her dream, judging by the signs she'd given us before getting in. Malcolm muttered something about some 'Mr. D' but he said nothing else, so I ignored the comment. I was so glad when Affie finally came down the stage, I almost hugged the fat dude sitting alone, drinking diet coke. When Affie sat down next to him, Malcolm and I came from in between the crowd and surrounded him. He clearly noticed, because he lifted his hands.

"Distracting me with such a beauty queen to get me unguarded. I should've known there were more demigods where she came from" he complained, clearly signalling Affie as the beauty queen. Malcolm sat down. I stood behind Affie's chair, putting my hands over her shoulders, possessively. I've had enough of this knockout nonsense. "Minors shouldn't be allowed in here, how did you get in?" He glanced back at Affie. "Ah, never mind."

"Uhm, Mr. D, I'm..." Malcolm started.

"Yes, yes. I know who you are, Maximilian."

"Malcolm" he corrected.

"Whatever you say, Matthew. You were brother to that insufferable Annabelle..."

"Annabeth."

"Yes, yes, Annielou. So what do you want, Marcus?" Malcolm told him about our quest. He kept a stern face. By then, I had realised the deliberate move of the god to change people's name. I knew he was a god just as Malcolm called him 'Mr. D' again, and of course, due to this powerful aura around him and the deep, blazing purple of his eyes. There was definitely a god with that name as camp director back at Camp Half-Blood, but since the gods had gone silent, he had returned to Olympus. Now, he was there in front of us, and made me wonder what kind of game where the gods playing on us. Aphrodite's help to Piper in the past, and her argument with Affie; Hephaestus help with Festus, Zeus' help to Jason, Hera's plans. All of it seemed a bit queer to me. When Dionysus turned to me and asked me who I was, I was prepared. And so, I tried my best.

"Liam Vegas, sir." I said.

"Leo Valdez, very well." I smiled, triumphant. No one could beat me, I was king at this game. "And you?" He asked Affie. She hadn't said a thing because the conversation had started in english, but she got the intention in the question, so she answered.

"Affie Williams."

"So, Amy Wilson. Do you confirm this kid's story?" He said, notably more interested in her. Affie hadn't understood a thing, but as she looked at me, I nodded.

"Yes, I do."

"Well, I believe you. You sure know how to make an entrance. Also, answering in greek. Very nice." He praised her, switching to greek. "Now, why should I help you."

"Because I'm quite sure Hera was the one who told me where you were. By helping us, she would be owing you a favour." I had seen Piper charmspeaking people before, but this was even more terrifying. She was being awfully compelling without any magical powers and that was way more freaky.

"You got a point there, Alice." He admitted. "Very well." He took a folded paper from his shirt pocket. "Here you have. And remember, you find him, you find a lead, you find the girl and the bow set." Affie received the paper carefully. "Now get out! Before I call the cops." He said angrily, and we were dismissed. As we got to the gas station, we went to the restrooms to change, but once Malcolm had gotten in, I stopped Affie for a second.

" _You_  went too far this time. I will  _never_  allow anything like this to happen again." I said, trying to stay firm in my position.

"Whatever you say, sir. I will keep it exclusive for you next time, then." She murmured in my ear and walked into the services, leaving me standing there for a while. I cursed. How did she always win?

When the van left, Affie was shaking. She had been too long in that outfit.

"We should find someplace to sleep." She said. "The lead we got from Dionysus does not work until tomorrow." She hadn't told us what it was, so Malcolm and I had spent the whole time it took us to change discussing the possible humiliations that lead might mean. A couple dozen blocks from there, we found the Cylburn Arboretrum, where we figured we could spend the night, if we hid between the vegetation. It was freezing cold, and we had no tents. I lit a fire, while Affie cooked our dinner. Malcolm was polishing his sword. Demigods attract a whole lot of monsters, so we had to take watches. After eating, I said I'd take the first watch. Affie came to me so she could sleep against me, and keep herself a little bit warmer, Malcolm dozed off immediately, next to the fire. I saw Affie was having trouble falling asleep, so I brushed her hair gently.

"We will find her, Liz. Don't worry." I told her, and she nodded. I kissed her crown a couple times, and hugged her to keep her warm, brushed her hands with mine. I was starting to worry as well. What if...? No, I had other things to take care of. For instance, paying attention so I could wake up everyone in case we had to fight some nasty monster.

* * *

**Translations:**

*Stay away from her.


	11. Hide and seek

When I woke up in the middle of the night, I was shivering, not only due to the fact it was so  _cold_  out here. My dreams had been terrifying. I was having a picnic with my mom, dad (stepdad) and my sister, Jessie. It was all fun and games until my mother's face turned into Gaea's.  _You can run girl, but I'll get you in the end_ , she'd said, her voice the most horrible sound to have ever come out of my mom's mouth. She shrieked, and her vocal cords vibrated in a way that made her dizzy. When she got a hold of herself, she was a butterfly again. She was near Bunker 9, watching Leo fix the last details on the Argo II, which had turned out to be a magnificent trireme. Annabeth yelled orders all the time and in no time, the trireme was ready to fly. Piper and Jason got on board and I watched helplessly how Leo disappeared into the clouds without saying goodbye to me. Not even a look, a farewell hand waving or a good luck, maybe last, kiss. Just as I felt my heart shatter, swirling snow got a hold of the ship and the last thing I saw was Leo being shot far away from the Argo II. I wanted to scream, but apparently butterflies can't. I woke up screaming, relieved it had been just a dream. The fire had died, and I could no longer see Malcolm sleeping next to it. Had he gone looking for more firewood? It made sense. I curled up, about to doze again, when I realised I wasn't sleeping on the changing comfort of flesh and bone. Leo wasn't my pillow anymore. I turned around to tell him he was being mean, letting me sleep on the ground, when I noticed he wasn't there. I got to my feet, the fear making the adrenaline run fast through my arteries, remembering my terrible dream. Where were Leo and Malcolm? Had they been propelled far away? Could I have been left alone? No, that made no sense. Leo wouldn't just leave me there, would he? I shook my head and searched for my things. My  _Heffalump_  backpack was right next to the ashes of the bonfire, where I had left it before going to sleep, and so were my bow and quiver. I could almost hear Malcolm trying to hold the laughter and Leo smirking mockingly when they'd first seen my backpack, after breakfast.  _Are we going on a preschool trip? It's so unfair I wasn't told! I would've brought my Elmo shirt_ , Leo teased. Obviously, he got punched for that. It, sadly, was mine and not Jessie's, but I just never had the heart to get rid of it. Fred, my stepdad, was a caring man, yet not someone who makes a lot of presents. He had given me that backpack for my fifteenth birthday and even when it was nothing like me, I had taken it everywhere with me since then. My mom would usually laugh about it, my sister would say I was a really  _cool_  big sister. The way she looked at me while saying it, made me believe I  _was_  cool while wearing the  _Heffalump_  on my back. The thought of my family made me homesick. Even when these past few weeks I had been able to keep in touch with my mother, it was really tough to keep it  _normal_. My stepdad knew nothing about the truth of my biological father, and it was better for him to stay in ignorance. For him, it was bliss. My mom had told me everything was going okay. She had told him I'd stayed on the US to attend school, at one of my mother's friends' because I longed for university studies at Harvard, Oxford or Cambridge, and my english skills were truly lame. The few times I'd talked to him, my mother had to arrange the Iris messages so he wouldn't notice it was no videoconference. I had wanted to be mad at my mother for hiding for so long the fact of me being a demigod, but I couldn't resent her. If you'd met my mother, you would know she was one most lovely and charming woman.

The crack of a tree branch brought me back to reality. I looked around, suddenly scared and aware of how easy would be for any monsters to take it on me, being this slow because of the cold, and being alone. My apprehensions became true soon enough. One more crack and I was surrounded by Laistrygonian Giants. I wanted to scream, but I thought better of it. If they had any reinforcements with them, screaming would only get me screwed. In two seconds, I had put on my backpack and my quiver, my left arm pulled back, tensing the string of the bow and holding an arrow aiming with flawless precision. Fighting was my only way out. The giants seemed amused by my attempt of standing against them, so I knew I should take that to my advantage. I searched my quiver and aimed with four arrows instead of one. There were like ten of them, so if I could manage to shoot three times, I could get away. Their (the arrows') celestial bronze points gleamed under the moonlight that made it between the pines. They came closer, and I let go. Three of them fell and turned to dust. One of them avoided death at the last second. That made me truly mad, 'cos I  _never_  miss. I shot again and this time all four arrows took those disgusting monsters back to Tartarus but I still had to take care of three of them, and they were too close for me to use my bow. Also, it was quite difficult to shoot with time when they were throwing their stupid rocks at me. If I got hit, there was no way in Tartarus for me to survive. Plan B. I ripped the left leg of my trousers and found the strap where I had a dagger Nyssa had forged me back at camp. Leo had been specially concerned about me and blades after that first sword training when I got cut on the cheek. It hadn't been a very deep nor a very long cut, but it had left a tiny pink scar when it faded, and he would not have me sword fighting.  _Your weapon is the bow_ , he'd said and I'd run right away to the forges to ask Nyssa to help me stand against that subtle prohibition. There's no need to say she was more than glad to help me. Still, I could not easily hide a sword, so I got a dagger instead. I could strap it on my leg and hide it under my jeans; yet when I had to become hot Santa girl I had to hide it in one of my boots. That outfit had made me very insecure, and very weary of people's reactions towards me. I played a role, which made it easier, but in the back of my mind a voice kept telling me that was not my true self. Playing with desire and attraction still felt like something strange, totally not mine.

Nyssa had suggested a stiletto, but I did not want a weapon that could only harm by thrusting it into the monster. I could not trust a blade that was made just for stabbing, although I usually did not trust blades. It was my last option, and if I hadn't had three Laistrygonian Giants to take care of, I would've never used it. It was mainly proud and obstinacy which made me get the dagger, so that was what I named it.  _Yperífanos_ , aka  _proud_. It was beautifully bathed in moonlight when I charged the first giant. Golden powder was at my feet, and I turned to face the remaining ones, just in time to duck and avoid getting hit. Two to go. One caught me unguarded and grabbed me, lifted me and looked at me as if he had just gotten a new Barbie doll for his collection.  _Man_ , I was no doll. He held me tight in his hand, and said something to his companion.

"She's cute. You think we could keep her?" He asked. The other one meditated the option for a while.

"She'd make a very nice demigod soup, but no. Gaea told us she wants the half-blood alive, to kill her in a different way. Gonna have to wait for demigod soup." I made a disgusted face, nearly sick. They were talking about eating me, how touching was that.

"I could still eat one of her legs, or her hair. She's pretty. She must taste good, and I'm hungry." The giant's belly rumbled. I shivered. I had to get outta there, ASAP. What I did then, I wish I hadn't done it, but I don't regret it cause it was the stupid idea which saved my life. I did not risk them noticing I still had a hold of my dagger so I bent and bit the giant's hand. It tasted like shit. Now, I have never tasted shit before that, but if there was ever a word to describe which flavour filled my mouth after biting him, it was shit. When it ouched and dropped me, I cut its disgusting belly wide open, so it could never again contain demigod soup.

"How repulsive." I qualified it as it let out all its gastric fluids and stuff it had eaten (was that a hand?) before it all turned into a pile of dust. Gee. I was about to throw up, I could no longer feel my feet and I still had one monster left.  _Gods, help me_. I thought, and then I knew it was time for plan C. One of its rocks passed barely a centimetre from my face and I ran for the greenhouse next to the garden I was hidden in. I hid inside the smallest room of it, in some tropical tree area. The heat was terrible. I kneeled between the trees and hoped for the best. The giant was way too big for trying to catch me between the bars even when he'd broken the glass, and I sighed with relief just when the damn thing decided if the metal bars weren't going to let it get to me, it'd have to get rid of them. It tore apart the whole structure, but it was too late. Another arrow had left my bow and hit it straight into where I supposed the heart should be. Another pile of dust and I was safe. For now. I had to find Leo and Malcolm. I was scratched all over and all my energy had drained out of me. I hadn't noticed how terrified nor how exhausted I was until the last giant was gone.

I took a cereal bar out of my  _Heffalump_  backpack. I gave it a bite and started walking in the middle of the night. As I realised how I had no idea where I was or where to find my friends, I felt desperately helpless. A few frustration tears left my eyes and came across my face before I found a frozen pond and saw the moon reflected over it. A girl was leaning over it. She had dark short hair and her skin glowed with a mystic moon-like light. Under the moonlight, she seemed almost silver. She rose her eyes and smiled, with a hint of respect. Her eyes were electric blue and she had a few freckles in her face and a punkish style. Her expression was an enormous 'Don't mess with me'. She didn't look older than sixteen, but something about her suggested the idea she was ageless. A bow and a quiver hung from her right arm.

"You did pretty well with those." She said. It was not a judgement of value, it had no approval nor disapproval in it.

"Uhm, who are you?" I asked. Something in her face made her look slightly familiar, but I couldn't quite figure out why.

"Thalia. Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis." Even after she said it, I kept repeating her words in my head. It took me a while to comprehend completely what it all meant. "And I suppose you're from Camp Half-Blood." She didn't change her ineffable expression, but her voice had a subtle tone of nostalgia. I wondered why.

"I'm Affie Williams." I agreed. "You were telling me you saw I was being attacked?" I said, not being able to hide the bitterness in my voice, a bit resentful for not receiving any help, when I had been clearly outnumbered.

She laughed. "Yes. We took care of the rest of them. It did help you didn't scream like the Barbie doll I first mistook you for. I apologise for that." She was so sincere and so nice. The moon made her glowing skin give a full silvery tone to all of her. "We're camping near. I cannot offer you much, but the rest of the Hunt can offer you a bit of hot chocolate, a place to warm up and we can try to heal your wounds." I just nodded. A cup of hot chocolate sounded extremely nice.

The Hunter's camp was amazing. I had had to walk for a while, out of the city and into the real woods. The camp wasn't exactly  _near_ , but once I got there, I didn't mind. Thalia walked me to the warmest tent I had ever seen in my life. Once I had drunk two cups of hot chocolate and had spent around ten minutes inside that tent, my neurones started functioning again. Just then, Thalia walked into the tent, and asked me how I was. I told her everything, about the quest, about my sister, about my two companions who had suddenly disappeared.

"Who were them?" She asked. For a second there, I could've thought she was worried, but when I told them who they were, she relaxed, and I told myself it had been my imagination.

"Leo and Malcolm. From the Hephaestus and the Athena cabins, respectively." She studied me for a couple of minutes, which made me a bit uneasy.

"What a shame. I thought I could maybe talk you into joining the Hunt. You have one unique aim there. One of the best ones I've ever seen. And you have guts, I like that. But I guess there's nothing to do."

"Excuse me?" I asked, confused.

"The way you said that boy's name. We Hunters take an oath of maidenhood in exchange for immortality. We can only die in battle or if we break that oath. But I don't believe you'd be willing to leave that guy for the Hunt, nor the quest, nor for your other friend, Malcolm." I blushed. I never thought it was that obvious I was in love with Leo. It didn't escape my attention that she didn't mention Leo's name, not once, though.

"I need to find them." I told her.

"This might be your lucky night. Just a couple minutes ago, one of the girls from the Hunt was scouting around when she saw a couple of boys appearing into a cave popping from the earth itself, like daisies. Those might be the ones you seek. Sadly, the Hunt must move forward, so I cannot help you anymore. I can show you where it is, though." She looked at me with a strange emotion in her gaze, as if she were asking herself whether she would've ended up in some strange situation like mine, hadn't she joined the Hunt.

"That would be great, thanks." When I turned to pick my stuff, some girls from the Hunt were giggling over my bow, which was a bit weird. I smiled to them out of courtesy and they giggled again. I wondered why wouldn't any of them help my friends when they saw them in a cave. Then again, since they all swore maidenhood, several of them probably had personal issues against the male genre and hated all of its members.  _A shame_ , I thought.  _Love is a wonderful thing_. When I glanced back, to take a last look before following Thalia, I saw all the Hunters helping each other and working in such harmony that they looked like a peaceful family. I realised they did have love, just a different kind, which made me think that, a couple years ago, I would've joined the Hunt without thinking it twice. Then I thought of Leo, and my heart ached. Had it been that way, I would've probably never met him. Never held hands with him. Never kissed him. Never loved him.

 

Thalia left before I got to the cave. She just pointed the direction and said farewell, getting lost into the woods. I walked half a mile before I came into an unusual giant rock against a low mountain. I walked past it, but I had this feeling I ought to go back, so I listened to it, and stood in front of the rock until dawn. I tried shouting to see if there was anyone in there, but if there were, no one answered. Maybe they couldn't hear me. That's when I noticed it. A ticking sound, like someone knocking against the rock. Three fast times. Three paused times. Three fast times again. A pause. The pattern repeated. I had this terrible itching in the back of my mind, that one when you hear a sound that should make you remember something but the memory takes a while to reach you. Three fast times. Then it came back to me.

It was morse code. Whoever was knocking the giant rock was saying SOS. My brain went crazy. I plucked my dagger, realising my leg was shivering again, since I no longer had jeans over it to protect it from the cold. I should've changed when I was with the Hunters. I knocked on the rock.  _Who is it?_  At first, there was silence, and I realised I had instinctively knocked in spanish.  _Fuck_. If it was some lost mortal or someone else, they wouldn't be able to understand it.

But then the knocking restarted. My heart fluttered as the long and short knockings got together into three letters. The only ones I needed to hear.  _Leo_. I waited, just in case he had anything else to say, but there was just silence.  _Thank the gods. You two okay?_  I asked. He said they were okay, but wounded. Malcolm, specially. They'd been suddenly swallowed by the earth and had been brought into the cave. He thought he was going to die suffocated. He said they had their stuff with them but it was pitch black in there and he didn't dare to light a fire, since he didn't know how much oxygen they had left. I wanted to tell him that I would take care of it, that I would take them out of there right away, but I had no idea how. The rock was too big for me to move, and my powers were useless. I had freaking charm powers and I could talk italian. And I wasn't sure the rock would move if I said  _Ottenere il cazzo dalla mia strada!*_  I felt useless. Maybe Leo thought something was wrong or sensed anything from my silence, but he started talking again.  _How do you know morse code?_  I smiled, helpless. Why was he cheering me up when it should be the opposite? I wasn't the one trapped in a cave.  _Scouting. I was a guide girl before getting to Camp Half-Blood_. Then, there was silence. I stared at the rock, feeling colder and sadder. Was he going to die right there? And what about Malcolm? Had he joined me on this quest just to die on a depressing black cave?

(-/.//.-/--/---)

The knocking brought me back to reality. I had to do something to get them out of there. They wouldn't die, not on me. I knocked back.  _Me too. Gonna get you out of there, you fool_.

I concentrated. How could I move that damn rock? There had to be a way. I tried the first most obvious solution. I sheathed my dagger and tried to push it from aside. Incredibly, it moved. But something like a millimetre. It would take me forever to move it enough for them to get out, and I didn't know if they had that long. So far, it was the only option I had, so I started pushing. In half an hour I had almost a centimetre and I was absolutely exhausted. I checked on them, they said they were fine. I kept working, but after an hour I could no longer move and the rock had barely moved a centimetre and a half. It was no use. I walked back to sit in front of the rock.

"Lizzie?" A voice asked. I ran to the small gap I had opened. There was Leo, poorly illuminated by the only ray of light they had.

"Oh my gods, Leo, thank Zeus you are alright." I said, wanting to hold him, kiss him, but the gap was not even wide enough for our fingers to get through. "How's Malcolm?" Leo winced.

"He's not good, but now we can see what we have, so I can now feed him some nectar and ambrosia." He explained. Leo moved aside for a moment and I could make the shape of Malcolm lying on the ground. Gods, I had to get them out of there. "What happened to you?" He was clearly talking about my ragged trousers, my messy leather jacket and my probably also messed up hair.

"Laistrygonian Giants." I said. His eyes were wide open. "I'm okay. The Hunters of Artemis found me. They helped me get warm and heal my wounds." I could easily tell he was blaming himself for what had happened to me. There was also something else, but I couldn't tell what. I squeezed my fingers into the gap. Their tips made it to the other side. Leo's face was resting on the rock, so I brushed his cheek. "It's not your fault. I'll get you out of there. I promise."

I had no idea how I did it, but seeing how Malcolm was dangerously wounded, and how Leo was all beat up as well, I could no longer stand having them behind a wall. _You stupid earth goddess. You don't mess with me, nor my friends, nor my boyfriend. I'm the only one who can pick on him_. I took the dagger from the strap on my leg, full of Laistrygonian blood and fluids and I stabbed it against the rock, which would usually be a really silly thing to do. It was this time too, and I realised it when the blade shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.  _Fuck this shit_ , I thought, right when I heard some cracking and I immediately stepped back. The giant rock shattered to pieces as well. Debris and dust were all over, and when the cloud of dust dissipated, I saw Leo standing right in front of me. I jumped over the pile of tiny rocks and hugged him, just being able to think how happy I was he was safe. I gently cleaned the dirt over his face with my hands and kissed him all over it before reaching his lips.  _Gods, never let me apart from him_. I was warm again.

"Told you not to use blades." He smiled, hugging me tight, making me feel how afraid he had been of never seeing me again. He kissed my forehead like a thousand times. "They shatter so easily." He joked.

" _Yperífanos_." I said. "I'm a bit stubborn, sometimes." He smiled and kissed me one last time before we turned to help Malcolm. I felt a little bit guilty for checking on Leo first, who was in way better conditions than him, but I couldn't help it. For a second there, I'd thought I might have never seen Leo again.

As I attended Malcolm's wounds, Leo started talking again. "You are some serious trouble." He told me. "Didn't I tell you not to use that kind of things again?" He was obviously talking about the strap on my leg.

"It was just in case you tried to get smart." I said. "Nyssa made it for me."

He smiled. "Yeah, I noticed. That was her imprint on the blade. Also, the stupid power to stab something impossible to stab and then shatter to pieces." He said. "What's the use of it if you can't do it again?"

"It's a metaphor." I said, pretty sure. "Most sacrifices require to give up something that you can't get back."

"Well, isn't Nyssa a ray of sunshine?" He said. I didn't answer. I had the feeling that breaking-the-rock thing had nothing to do with Nyssa. She had simply forged a magnificent blade. The metaphor had been someone else's doing. I tried to shut up my internal suspicions of it being Gaea.

"You two" Malcolm spoke up. "Could you please stop flirting? I'm wounded, not unconscious. I don't care whether Leo is jealous Af gets to use hot pieces of armoury." He said. We both blushed. "Now, I'd love some nectar and ambrosia, thank you very much."

* * *

**Translations:**

*Get the fuck out of my way!


	12. A look he would never forget

I have to admit that Affie was my one solution to all of my several problems. She just made everything so bearable, so worth it. Like when I had gotten on the van, worried I would be nauseous. You know, throwing up on your girlfriend isn't exactly your move to impress her, although it will definitely make you unforgettable. So between my nervousness about the nausea and the nausea itself, I absolutely should've thrown up. But she had kept me so entertained the night before, that I fell asleep and nothing happened. And the moment I woke up, there she was to make me think about how mean she was or who she would date if we broke up instead of the terrible rumble and movement of the van.

She made me more mature, too. Okay, well, not really. Just a little, since I could never ever be serious about nothing before her, and now she was around me, to remind me of reality, I could be serious one out of a thousand times. But it was an improvement, wasn't it?

So when the earth swallowed me all of a sudden, the only thought that came across my mind was Affie. Was she being swallowed as well? And if she wasn't, was she going to be safe all by herself? The earth squeezed me, and I tried to fight back, though it was no use. I had been so sure our journey had been way too peaceful until then, I cursed when Gaea proved me right. Damn it. I wasn't going to die underground, was I? I could see her smile once again, right?  _Gods, let me see her again_ , was my silent prayer, as the oxygen was slowly leaving my system. I was suffocating and, just in case you're wondering, not being able to breath is one of the most exasperating things ever. I got launched into the interior of a cave just when I thought it was time to pass out. Several rocks and roots scratched and cut me on my way to the surface. The cave was pitch black, bathed by a ray of moonlight that disappeared ten seconds seconds after we popped inside it. I heard Malcolm moaning not so far from me.

"Dude, you okay?" I asked.

"Several... broken... things..." he managed to say, trying to recover his breath, clearly in worse conditions than me. I called Affie, but she didn't answer.  _Does this mean that she is...?_  I couldn't bring myself to complete the thought, but Malcolm must've thought the same, cause he stayed quiet. It was either that or he was dying, and neither were nice options. I got up after some minutes of catching my breath, and started exploring the cave. It had a high ceiling yet it was a narrow cave, and something was blocking what I recognised as the entrance, the place where the light came before we were trapped inside. I could immediately tell it was no use trying to move it, as badly injured as we were. While walking around, I surprisingly found our stuff. Affie's things weren't there, which gave me some relief. I could not see, but I could definitely tell it was our stuff. Gaea had such a sense of humour. She would leave us to die in this cave with all our stuff so we could die knowing how we were not able to change our fate not even having our weapons with us. I didn't know how much oxygen we had, so I gave up on exploring, since it was mainly useless without light or fire, and sat next to the blocked entrance. I started tapping on the rock. Morse code, SOS. Maybe some really lost tourist would find us (I figured we had been carried a few miles away from our original camping spot) or maybe we would get lucky and some psychopath would've hidden its most recent body somewhere near and the police would be doing body-search patrolling around us and get us out. But not such luck. I waited for what seemed forever, wishing hopelessly for Affie to mystically figure out where we were. Although she would have no way to know we were inside the cave, since I had the feeling it was soundproof, and so far I wasn't sure she knew morse code anyways.

I was starting to believe we were going to die there, and beginning to create some dark joke about it to distract Malcolm's mind from his pain, when I heard tapping from the other side of the rock. Had it been my imagination? As the short and long knockings got together, I could not decipher what they said. Maybe it wasn't someone answering but some animal or something? But then it made sense.  _¿Quién es?*_  My heart fluttered and I grinned automatically. I turned to Malcolm for a brief moment.

"She found us" I told him. And Affie, that wonderful, majestic girl, answering in spanish, not giving a crap if whoever inside understood it or not. It was definitely her. I seriously had won the lottery with her.  _She knew morse code_ , how hotter she could possibly turn out to be?  _Okay, rhetorical question_ , I told my mind as some really distracting memories of her in the sexy Santa girl outfit popped in my mind.

I answered her. As the conversation continued without me being dragged out of the cave, I figured she had the same problem we had: no way to move the rock. Awesome. She kept silent for a while and my heart sank. Maybe she was feeling guilty for not being able to get us out of here. This was definitely not her fault. Everything hurt at the idea of her shivering in the cold, worried sick for me and Malcolm, feeling frustrated for not being able to move a stupid rock. Gods, it was like I could read her thoughts from here. I knew we were doomed, so there was only one thing left to say.  _Te amo**_.

Yet she wasn't giving up. She started to push the damn thing which must've weighted at least a ton, and after an hour or so, she had been able to open a gap of air and sunlight for us. I wanted to kiss her and tell her how much I feared getting punched by her again. If she'd been able to push that gigantic rock, even if barely a centimetre or so, gods knew it must've hurt even more to get punched by her now. Just saying. Looking at her through the thin gap she'd opened got me sick worried about her. She was covered in dirt, her trousers ragged on her left leg, her hair messy, a dagger strap on her leg... oh, gods. If I ever made it out of the cave, I would have to do something to her. I told her not to stimulate my sensible imagination, yet she kept acting like she hadn't listened. It was as simple as I could picture her so easily with her dagger in hand, the strap around her leg, a wicked smirk in her face and a look that said 'I'm gonna make you pay' so bad-girl like, I felt I was going to burst in flames right there, in the cave. That was no good, and she didn't make my self control any easier.  _Evil woman_.

I let her ask how were we so she could stop worrying, but it didn't help. Then I asked her what had happened to her and I wanted to crush my head against the cave's walls. Laistrygonian giants?  _Gaea, you bitch_. She had taken me and Malcolm out of the way so we couldn't interfere with her plans for getting rid of my girlfriend. I still could not believe she was on one piece, it was definitely some kind of miracle. I made a silent gratitude prayer to my father for a sec. Gods, I was so glad she was okay. I felt like I should've been there, I should've protected her.

I was on that when she must've lost it or something, because she took her dagger from the strap on her leg and, guess what, she stabbed the rock with it. Yup, you heard it right. It would normally be super strange for someone to thrust a rock with any kind of blade but my girl did it glowing with rage and in some fearfully magnificent way. She had been absolutely flawless, but for the fact rocks can't be stabbed. Yay, crazy Affie. And... the dagger sank into the rock. Although it was physically impossible for it to happen, it happened. Of course, the blade shattered to pieces, but so did the rock. I took a step back half a second before it fell down. Wow.

After the dust dispersed, I knew the view I was contemplating was glorious and unique. There was Affie, smiling at me, incredulous, jumping over the mess she'd created, kissing me before I had time to think about it. She usually made me feel dumb, thinking of everything ahead of me, taking care of my problems, inverting the usual unsaid statement that the boy should be the hero and the girl the damsel in distress. But as she'd clarified before, Affie was no damsel in distress, gods, she had even shot me a hairpin for trying to intervene in one of her fights.

After we got told off by Malcolm, who after some nectar and ambrosia was well enough to mock us eternally with phrases like 'Oh, Leo, your eyes flicker so prettily in the morning light' and 'Oh, Liz don't wear dagger straps because they turn me on', giving me intentionally a more high-pitched voice than the one he gave Affie, we walked out the cave and figured what were we supposed to do next.

 

I have had a certain amount of strange acquaintances but nothing like what happened after we decided to go to wherever Dionysus had sent us to. Affie kept hiding us where exactly was that, of what were we going to find there. We didn't have time to give one step when a guy, a very strange winged guy, appeared out of nowhere. Now, when I say it was a winged dude, I don't mean an angel-like, feathered pair of wings, I mean a fairy-like, transparent, multicolour-glowing, butterfly kind of wings. He was some transgender Barbie Fairytopia, although he was wearing no leaf suit but a tight light purple shirt and tight white trousers, no shoes and a crown made of white roses. He had near gold, light brown, long curls and he was flying in front of us as if it was a beautiful spring morning. His deep purple eyes were fixed on Affie, and she fell in some sort of trance. I ran towards her. I noticed I couldn't move, I was paralysed.

"Hey there" he said, as if he hadn't been possessing my girlfriend, who by now was floating in front of him, her eyes lighted up as if she had had a lamp inside her head, her hair moving in waves, as if she were underwater.  _What in Tartarus_.

"What have you done to her?" I asked. I hadn't meant to, but I shouted. I didn't regret it, though.

"Anteros" Malcolm murmured.  _Who?_  


"Very well, young demigod. I'm one of the Erotes: Anteros, god of requited love, brother to Eros, Himeros and Pothos." He smiled. The air smelled of roses all of a sudden. "She's just answering to my presence." He said, referring to Affie. "A daughter of Eros can not resist to show off in front of me, much less if she's in love." I could swear he was looking right at me when he said so, but it was difficult to tell, since I didn't feel able to meet his eyes. Elina here didn't exactly inspire fear, but I  _did_ felt fearful to look at him. That tremulous apprehension you feel when you wanna hold hands with a girl for the first time, or you like her and you don't know how to act around her. That feeling that always made me nauseous and insecure. I wanted to tell him to back off, to let go of my girlfriend, whatever he was doing to her, but it was useless. It made me feel very afraid to look at her like that, as if some spirit had taken possession of her. Had he said it was just her showing off? How could it possibly be  _just_  her and her powers? It made me afraid of her rather than attracted to her, as it should be, being Eros the god of love. Then again, love  _is_  a truly terrifying thing.

"Well, I should be going" he said. "My brother isn't a very patient god." He said, flying away swiftly. The paralysis I had been through started slowly fading. Malcolm, who had apparently been even more paralysed than I was, finally did something else than to say the god's name.

"Hey, where are you taking her?!" He asked, as Affie started to follow him while floating, which gave me the creeps.

"You stupid Elina take my girlfriend back!" I shouted at him, with all I had. He turned back and his wicked grin made a chill run down my spine. Gods, he was scary. "Your transport will soon be here. He is not as nice as me, you should think better of what you are going to say, since I did understand that reference, and had it been him, you would be now in love with a worm." I shut up. Something told me he was talking about himself, and I shivered.  _Affie, where are they taking you_.

"It's gonna be okay" Malcolm told me. "Wherever he's taking her, someone else is taking us, so we'll be with her soon." I held onto his words. I didn't feel it likely for gods to interfere and not mess things up, but okay.

When the other dude showed up, I was relieved to see he looked pretty normal. Baggy trousers, a white shirt and wavy, brown, short hair. The only odd thing about him was a dark orange rose that rested in his shirt pocket. That, and the fact his eyes were the same orange as the rose. He was also barefoot, but his wings were normal, angel-like ones. He looked at us, and looked bored.

"What's up?" He asked.

" _What's up?_ " Malcolm repeated, incredulous. "You're a god, gods don't say 'what's up?' that's..."

"Your butterfly brother took away my girlfriend in some spooky ghost state. He told us you would take us to wherever he took her." I interrupted 

"Uh, for Zeus, that damn fairy took Eros' child. I told him not to, I was supposed to be the escort to all three of you. Very well, I'll have to take you down there." He was very easy-going. Was this dude truly a god? Well, he  _had_  wings, that was for sure.

Luckily I hadn't gotten my hopes up, because who now I knew, thanks to Malcolm, was Himeros, wasn't in for giving us a ride. As we were walking after him, Malcolm and I kept silent. This was way too weird. All of it. The worst part was we were being scolded by the god of sexual desire (and unrequited love). I was half expecting him to turn around at any moment and start talking about the best positions during sex, to give us condoms and tell us to be safe and have fun. All that kind of stuff you don't really wanna talk with people like parents, nor teachers, nor gods. Thank Hephaestus, he didn't.

As we came back into the city, I started noticing this was a mildly warm day for it being December. Snow hadn't melt, of course, but it was sunny and you could easily believe that soon you would need no jacket, which was absurd, but you could still believe so. And there, in the middle of what looked like a main street, was the most colourful bunch of people I had ever seen, just as in my dream. I finally understood what was it. We were in one of those 'Proud to Be Gay' parades. I felt suddenly out of place. I had nothing against different people but, you know, I simply wasn't gay. Malcolm seemed even more uncomfortable than me.

"What are we doing here?" He asked Himeros.

"Oh, you know, my brother loves this kind of stuff. He can show off and people doesn't mind. He can make people fall in love, hate each other, 'such fun'... I, on the other hand, I think this is no use." He explained. "I don't like crowds." I was starting to notice that Himeros was also crazy in his own way, which was better than Anteros' way but not less strange. I began looking for Affie, when I saw Elina flying near a dude in a red shirt and white tight trousers. The guy from my dream. This time, though, I was not aroused by his presence, not at all. Instead, I wanted to hide behind a tree and never come out again which was, in a tiny way, an improvement. We walked towards them. The moment we reached them, I saw Affie, no longer in ghost mode but seated next to the guy from my dreams, deep lost in thought, looking at her feet. I could see she'd been crying by the wet lines on her cheeks. I ran to her, but Himeros stopped me, surprisingly gentle.

"That trance she fell into was Anteros talking to her like, talking to her soul. Whatever he told her, you don't wanna shake her out of it until she's fully recovered." He warned me. Sweet, now my girlfriend had been turned into a sobbing muppet. I wanted to kick all these cherubs and get the Tartarus out of there, but Malcolm's look told me to know better. The best moment for kicking all their butts wasn't right now. So we saved the couple steps between us and them, and Anteros gave us an irritated look.

"Zeus, did you really have to bring them all down here, Himeros?" He complained.

"I were told to bring all of them, not just her." Himeros answered calmly, in a way that made me think he was about to reduce his brother to ashes.

"You two, drop it" the guy in the bench told them off. I could finally make his face, and he was quite different from my dream. He was probably in his twenties, but his face was super young, not baby-like, yet young. He had dark brown, short curls, and on his head he carried a crown made of red roses, like Anteros' white one. His eyes were pinkish red, just like Affie's. Sorry, not exactly like Affie's, these were no raw rubies, these were diluted blood. He smiled.

"Oh, so you're Leo Valdez" he said, walking around me, evidently trying to see how much was I worth. "My mother was right." He said, in a tone that left me clear I was a disappointment.  _What a shock_. He turned to Malcolm. "And you... oh, so that's it. You should tell her, you know. She might like you back." Malcolm blushed, and I hadn't even known that was possible for him. Okay, the Erotes were creepy. It was now official. "Leo, why don't you and your friend here give it a shot? I  _love_  gay couples." Now both, Malcolm and I were out of our minds. "But... I guess it cannot be. If she hadn't existed, on the other hand..." he gestured towards Affie. I wanted to punch this guy. Which kind of parent makes that kind of suggestion?

Affie recovered, finally, stood up, walked up to me and made me wrap my arm around her. I held her tighter, just in case one of these lunatics wanted to take her away again. She looked around and seemed to have just noticed the guy in the bench. Eros.

"Dad?" She asked, sceptically. He smiled.

"Oh, good to see you recognise me. You have grown so much since the last time I saw you." There was no tenderness in his voice, no parental love.

"Why are you  _here_?" She clearly referred to the strange choice of place.

"I love LGBTI parades, such fun. And after all, love is love, isn't it?" Eros did not wait for an answer, just like Affie always did. "Remembers me of the great times in Greece, when men would love each other and even offer their relationships to me." He stated dreamily. Both Himeros and Anteros cleared their throats. "Right, so, well... I think I've had enough of this. I don't have my bow and quiver with me anyways. We can leave to my place now." He made a signal and Anteros took me from my jacket and lifted me on the air, making me let go of Affie.

"Hey! Butterfree!" I yelled. "Put me down!"

"Don't get smart, kid. I can drop you from Empire State height." I cursed. I saw Malcolm swear as well, but being less uncomfortable with his driver, Himeros, than I was with mine. Affie was being carried by her dad. He told her something quick. She protested, and almost loosened Eros' grip on her jacket. I thought she would fall, for a second there. We were left back on the floor in front of a place called 'Forbidden Affair'. I already knew it was no place for kids. Malcolm spoke up once more, letting them know what we all thought.

"We can't go in there, we're minors." He said the obvious.

"Of course you can't" Eros said. "But it's daytime. There'll only be a few costumers. Plus, the entrance to my mansion is through here."

"You run a brothel?" Affie asked, horrified.

"No, don't be dumb. Although it's a marvellous business." We all looked at him.  _Marvellous business?_  "All brothels around the world are places where I'm worshipped, consciously or unconsciously. And they all have a secret entrance to my mansion." He said it as if it was the most normal thing on Earth.

We walked into the place, where all lights were off, except at the bar, where one girl with too many clothes off, was cleaning a glass. She winked at me. Immediately, I could feel a presence next to me, and one second to another, Affie was hugging my arm, painfully strong, suddenly interested in my braces and being oddly affectionate. She was truly sweet, but only when we were alone, and no one could see her. It took me a while to understand that she being nice to me when we were by ourselves was her way to show me she trusted me. She wouldn't let anyone see her as she truly was, mainly afraid of getting hurt. But she acted naturally around me, as if there was nothing to hide from me. Now, she was acting out of jealousy, which only made her cuter.

We walked into some dark tunnel where we could hear uncomfortable sounds I'm so not gonna describe. Eros stopped in front of a door, and we all stopped with him. As I observed the door, I noticed there was something in greek written there. 'έρως' which meant Eros. It was quite obvious for a demigod, so I figured Eros' mansion was no secret place. Then again, I didn't think there were many demigods walking into places like 'Forbidden Affair' for them to be able to find these kind of doors. Eros opened it and we all stepped inside. It was the biggest entrance hall I had ever stepped into in my whole life. It was even bigger than school ones. A very palace-like staircase raised in the perfect middle of the room, in front of us.

"So" Eros announced. "I welcome you all to my humble home. We might all have a wonderful meal now." Neither Anteros nor Himeros seemed in for it, because they flew upstairs and disappeared into a hallway.

 

I have a piece of advice for you. If the godly parent of your demigod girlfriend invites you to have lunch with them, politely decline the invitation, run away and hide in a desert island. You might think it's a bit extreme, but believe me, it's not. Eros was really good at giving cocktails, though. Sadly, he didn't give us time to change or anything so, muddy and messy as we were, we tried to enjoy the food. I was so hungry enjoying the food was no problem. Enjoying Eros company, on the other hand...

"Leo, such a strange name choice. Well, nevermind, tell me who is your godly parent." Eros asked me first.  _Strange name? Have you heard your daughter's?_  


"Uhm, Hephaestus, sir." The fact that he looked as Affie's elder brother rather than her father didn't make me feel any more at ease.

"Oh, that old man. Very well, he does have his ways with the ladies, being as unattractive as he is, you would expect him to have trouble in love, but in fact..."

"How nice! I also had a rat in my house when I was three, how about we talk about it?" I changed the subject of the conversation, since I so did not want to hear about Hephaestus' love life details. Specially since they included my mother.  _Too much information_ , I'd wanted to say. I looked at Affie out of the corner of my eye. I wanted her to come by and save me from her father, but she seemed to know we were going through 'the father-son in law talk' so she thought it less awkward to stand away and chat with Malcolm instead. At some point, Himeros had joined them, as was talking absent-mindedly to Affie.  _You traitor_. 

"Oh no, that's a terrible topic. What about my beautiful daughter, young man. I believe that's an interesting topic for you." I really didn't want to talk about my intentions with her and all that freaky stuff dads were supposed to ask you about. My freaked out look might've appeared to him as a 'go on' because he did not stop. "I really hope you're not doing things the wrong way. Most young people nowadays believe love is just a touch n' go and nothing else, and the erotism has been completely forgotten, so I truly expect you to satisfy her and..."

"Sir,  _please_." I interrupted him.  _I hadn't heard that, I hadn't heard that_. I felt my face hot, probably burning,  _literally_  burning. It must have been, because Affie appeared right away. She gave Eros an angry look. I could tell by her corporal language she wasn't a hundred percent sure of how to feel about her father, nor how to act around him, but she did not have place in her attitude towards the world to show insecurity, so she stood up against him.

"Dad. Leave him alone. You should better behave, otherwise I'll walk away. The door is a pretty big one, you know." Eros clearly didn't like to be told off by his daughter, but he knew she wouldn't give a damn about his parental authority. She was no kid to raise.

"In that case, I should ask  _you_." He said, and I felt the urge to walk away, but I didn't want to seem scared, even though Eros terrified me; so I stayed. "So, you like this  _boy_." The way he said boy was pretty offensive, by the way.

"I  _love_  him" she answered right away. Wow, she was good. Affie one, Eros zero.

"And you are with him."

"Yup, he's my boyfriend."

"Is he the first one you love?"

"Yes, he is."

"The only one you've dated."

"No." Did she count Will? I wondered. And even if she did, were there any other guys? I felt inexplicably jealous.

"Does he satisfies you?"

"I haven't slept with him yet, if that's what you mean. Have you? Cause you could save me having to if you're so worried about me, and he's no good." Eros gave her a 'so not laying with  _that_ ' look. I wanted to say ' _rude!_ ', but I contained myself. "He does make me happy. Very happy. So you can stop harassing him 'cos if he's ever walking away it'll be me who'll have to tell him to do so. Otherwise he'll stay right where he is, if he knows what's best for him." Affie a thousand, Eros zero. Eros was no match for her sassiness, and she just talked things straight as always. Even if it meant for her not to have a lady-like vocabulary. It made me feel so proud of her.

The god felt evidently bored by not being able to mock his daughter so he went to make Malcolm uncomfortable instead. We had a light lunch and Eros made his second round of questions. Affie was left to talk to Himeros. I'd had to tell Eros I did not want to talk about whether his daughter turned me on or not, and Malcolm looked as if he was going to pass out if there was a third round. If there was, dinner came before it, so I had the chance to eat before another round of embarrassing questions came. I had to give him some credit. If there were a contest for the most unwanted father-in-law, Eros would definitely win. By then, I would've preferred the questions about 'What are your intentions with my daughter?' and 'What do you plan to do for a living?' instead of Eros original ones.

"The meal we just ate is an excellent aphrodisiac. I hope you enjoy its qualities." He told me while I was drinking soda. I was spitting all of it before I could stop it. "Kidding." He said right away, but the tone he used was 'I'm so not kidding' which made me feel insanely awkward. Was I going to leave that place alive? The time had gone incredibly fast, though. Sunset was almost done by now, and in the full glass dining room at Eros' mansion, you could watch the sky as it was turning darker, and a few stars started titling from far. "I believe you're all tired, and I didn't even gave you time to clean up, so you're dismissed. You all have rooms prepared for you. Just walk down the left wing aisle up the stairs, and you'll find your doors."

Before we left the room, Malcolm stopped. "Do all the Erotes live in this mansion, sir?" He asked.

Eros made no specific expression. "Yes, we do."

"So where's Pothos?" Malcolm wanted to know.

"He is in his room, crying. He's a terrible fanboy. He ships all the couples who long for each other, so he makes them miss each other and then he cries over their pain. Who understands him?" The idea of some cherub crying over couples as if they were movies was either repulsive or eccentrically hilarious. I stayed with eccentrically hilarious. Affie made a perturbed face for all reaction, and Malcolm shrugged. Maybe he was wondering whether Eros had been joking. I knew he wasn't. The god of love was not the joking type.

We went upstairs, and I gave Affie a brief kiss before she disappeared into her room. She probably felt grubby and wanted to clean up. I didn't blame her, since I also had the annoying sensation I stank. When I came into my room I felt completely out of place. It had been decorated like a seven-year-old's. The bed was racing-car-shaped and all the place was full of toy cars and scale car models. I felt insulted. I took a shower and prepared myself to get some sleep when a scale Ducati 900 GTS caught my eye, which had absolutely not been there before.  _What a beauty_. It was the only scale motorcycle in the room. Turned out it was enchanted so the tiny thing actually  _worked_. I suddenly noticed a tag on it. 'Hope you like it, you fool. Happy first month.' I could hear Affie's voice while reading it. Damn it. I had forgotten it. Like, not really forgotten it, I had actually made a gift for her, but it had been such a wild day it completely slipped out of my mind. I immediately run to her room, and I saw her talking to Malcolm at her door. She looked incredibly gorgeous, with her wet hair tied up off the cuff on her right side, with the same hairpin she'd used to hit me on the forehead. She had just a baggy sleep shirt a couple sizes bigger on, and I immediately thought Malcolm should not be allowed to look at her right now.

"So Pothos is truly fucked up" she said. Malcolm winced, as if he hadn't gotten used to Affie's word selections yet.

"Yeah, I visited him. Crying like a baby, rolling around his room. Traumatic scene." Malcolm stated. "Oh, hey Leo. Well, I guess I'd be better going. Good night, you two." He was evidently troubled by the situation, making it a bit more awkward than it needed to be. Then it was just Affie and me.

"Hey, Liz, I'm sorry, that was an awesome gift and I..."

She shushed me. "There's no need to worry, silly. I know you didn't mean to forget it." I could feel the subtle threat in her voice. I smiled.

"Of course not, that's why I'd made you this" I took a package from my tool belt, which I used even for sleeping. She unwrapped it, making me nervous, wondering she'd like it or not. "When I made it for you I didn't know you were going to hide a dagger under your trousers, so..."

She held the celestial bronze blowpipe and the leather strap with a dozen celestial bronze darts. The blowpipe had snowflake carvings which moved. She looked very happy, which filled me with relief. "My dagger is broken. And this is one very cool gift." She studied me for a second. " _Psýchra***_. That's what I'm calling it. I hope there are no second messages here" she said, lifting the  _blowpipe_. I blushed.

"Uh, no, of course not." I hadn't meant that, I swear! But she laughed and I could tell she'd been teasing me.  _Evil woman_.

"I have something else for you" she said, going back inside and coming out with a pair of goggles. "I made these for you." I gave her a puzzled look. They were pretty cool but, was there anything wrong with the ones I already had? She seemed to read my thoughts. "Yours have a chip." I took mine out of my tool belt and realised she was right. I had been so busy while wearing them I hadn't noticed. It made me very nervous she'd stared at me long enough to see they had a scratch.

"Thanks" I said, suddenly moved by the gesture. She kissed me, and I rested one of my arms on the door frame and leaned to kiss her better. My other hand held her face against mine. She grinned against my lips. I loved when she did that. "Wanna come in?" She whispered. My heart jumped, and I nodded.

Her room was so nice I felt even more insulted. It had a glass ceiling, which made it possible to see the starry night outside. It was illuminated only by candles, similarly as her cabin back at camp was. One wall was cherry red, the other ones were white. An old record player stood on a wooden table at one corner and the rest of the room had a lot of poufs and cushions. The bed was hipsterly decorated with christmas lights. We sat in her bed, and for a while, we simply held hands and stared at each other. I brushed a lock of rebel hair from her face.

"I was wondering..." I began. "Could you tell me more about  _you_ , about your life before Camp Half-Blood? Your past? I know about your family, and everything, but you talk about your past as if your life had started when your sister was born." I had been dubitative to mention her sister, since she had gone missing, but she didn't mind me mentioning her.

She sighed. "Okay, on one condition. You have to talk to me about yours first." I had been expecting that. I was prepared for it. Or so I thought. I started talking about my childhood, my mother, not being able to bear the sadness that got to me when I talked about her. I told her about Tía Callida and the earth lady. About my mother's death. I was prepared for her trying to apologise, but she surprised me as usual. She hugged me, in a very non romantic way, but in the way you hug someone as if you wished to take away its pain just by hugging it. She was trying to squeeze my sorrow out of me so she could take it in, trying to exchange it for her joy. I felt shocked. All these years, being from one foster home to another, I had never been able to find a place to call home. But right then, with her arms around me, holding me tight, I felt home. I hugged her back, and we stayed like that for a couple minutes. Then she knew it was her turn, and she had no way to withdrew.

"Well, I was born when my mother and my (step)dad where just married. He always treated me as a child of his own. My mother was argentinian, and my father british. My baby years were amazing, but when I entered preschool, everything fell apart. Everybody feared me, and none of them could look me in the eye. I was pretty lonely, and for a four year old there's no possible explanation for such cruelty from people. As I grew up, and boys started to get interested in girls, I became more popular amongst boys, but all girls would do was hating on me. They were all super mean. Girls would stick chewing gum in my hair, 'accidentally' spill their milk boxes on me. Boys would steal kisses from me. Some of them would ask me out and I felt sorry for them, so I told them I would. None of them were truly interested in me, they just thought I was hot and they  _needed_  to have me. Or try me. I thought maybe I was the odd one, so I started dating guys, but all I did with them felt empty. The movies, going for a walk, making out. I started saying no again. Boys would call me ice queen, and girls would call me a bitch. My sister was the only ray of sunshine through all those years. Her, and the trips we had every now and then, and every summer with my mother to some place in the US, to visit her cousin who moved so much it was crazy. When I first came to Camp, I had been scared, but also incredulous. Because I could not believe I would no longer need to live that horrendous life of hiding and being the school's whore." Her confession made me shiver. She seemed so defenceless, I could only think how I should've been there to be her boyfriend, to protect her, to make her company. I somehow understood the way she'd gave in when Will had kissed her during her first night at camp. She was used to guys being jerks to her. I wrapped her with my arms and gave her a kiss on the forehead, brushing her hair. She felt so fragile. I felt her shaking under my hug and when I lifted her face gently to take a look, a rebel tear was going down her cheek. I kissed it.

"Leo, when I met the Hunters" she began. "There was the lieutenant, Thalia. She wouldn't speak your name, and I could tell it was a deliberate move." She locked her eyes with mine. "Do you know why?" I sighed.  _Here we go_.

"She probably tried to erase the memory of me flirting with her. I was maybe very annoying to her, being a maiden and all." I confessed, and waited for her to snap and take me out of her room. She didn't move. In fact she gave me a curious look.

"Rachel told me back at camp that you always aim too far. You fall for girls who are out of your league." I winced.  _Damn you, Rachel_. "Is that true?" I couldn't read her expression, she was definitely wearing her poker face.

"I... yes, I guess it's true." I admitted. "In fact when you ran into my cabin that day you first arrived to camp, I immediately had a crush on you, cause you were so unstoppable, and so flawlessly beautiful walking in as if you owned the place. It struck me as incredible." I was blushing, very insecure of telling her that kind of stuff. Yeah, I loved her, but it felt weird to confess her I'd had a crush on her since the very first time I saw her. It was too compromising. Although, apparently, she didn't think the same, 'cos she kissed me on the cheek, and gave me a 'I'm so happy I can't believe it' breathtaking hug. I grinned. Our faces were barely some centimetres apart, and I suddenly felt the situation changed drastically. She was in front of me, covered only by a thin baggy shirt, and it was so cosy in here. I felt like a magnet was drawing me to her, and I felt no urge to resist it. I looked into her eyes, her beautiful ruby eyes, and her eyes spoke so clearly it was impossible to misunderstand them.  _Go on, you fool_.

So I kissed her. Gently and slowly first, letting her kneel on top of me, sitting on the edge of the bed. Then I felt that delicious dread and kissed her harder. She started passing her fingers through my hair and it felt  _so_  good. My hands untied her hair and went down to hold her hips, and she was offering no resistance. She kissed my jaw, then my neck, and I lost it. I could feel the flames licking me and her, and I didn't care at all. I kissed her neck, her butterfly tattoo, her bare shoulders, her collarbone, and she moaned. A chill went down my spine and I decided I wanted to hear her moan a thousand times more.

" _Te amo_ , Leo." She whispered in my ear. I shivered, and so did she when I mentally stated her shirt should no longer stand in the way between her skin and my hands. My hands trembled while tracing the shape of her waist, and I knew that pale colour was the most glorious thing I would see in my entire life. I looked her in the eye again, and I felt scared. What if I ever lost her? What would be of me without her in my life? She gifted me the gentle touch of her fingers on my cheek. No matter what happened, she was here with me now, and that was all that mattered. My heart felt like it was going to jump off my chest when I had her on me only in her underwear. I lifted her and let her rest on the bed. I climbed to be in top of her and I kissed her again, my hands not knowing where to rest, there was  _so much skin_. She arched up against me and gave me the very one look I would  _never_  forget. It made my heart tremble, and I felt as if she now had it in her hands, able to crush it if she wanted. Her fingers moved playfully around my hips, looking for the end of my shirt. She found it soon enough, and her fingertips moved all along my back, my brain bursting with sensations completely unknown for me before this moment. I kissed her chest, she shivered. The contrast of my bronze skin against hers was a beautiful painting. I was about to look for the clasp of her bra when she suddenly withdrew.

"Holy shit!" She exclaimed. It hadn't been anything I'd done, right? But when I saw the direction of her gaze, I turned around and saw Eros smiling proudly at the end of the bed.

"Holy Hephaestus!" I joined her.

"Oh, don't mind me. Go on."  _Cockblocked by my father in law_ , was all I could think of.

* * *

**Translations:**

*Who is it?

**I love you.

***Chill.


	13. Lies you can't control

It hadn't happened in my cabin. And it was happening now. I could tell it was going to happen, by the way everytime he grazed my skin, chills ran through my body. I was in love. With the way he touched me, the way he kissed me, the way he looked at me. I wanted to melt right there, become part of him, never get apart from Leo. Ever again. His bronze skin and his caress were all I needed, no food nor water. Just him all around me, flames licking his body. He was so gentle, and rough, and knew exactly what to do to take me to Olympus.

Leo kissed my neck, and I was certain I wanted him to kiss every single millimetre of my skin. I wanted to feel embarrassed when he got rid of my shirt, but I could only think how grateful I was he had taken it away, since his hands over me were the best sensation I'd ever felt. It was right. My heart was racing and so was my breath. He was taking no breaks. I was soon lying on the bed, and he was on top of me, with his indecisive hands not knowing where to touch me.  _Everywhere_ , my mind screamed. I didn't disagree. I couldn't wait any more to feel him, so I got his shirt out of the way. I wanted to trace his muscles, feel the flames leap against my fingertips. Leo's bronze skin gave me the warmth I always lacked. He finally realised he could free me even more, and I shivered when his hands found their way to my back.  _Hurry up_ , I meant to tell him, and I opened my eyes to fill my mind with his beautiful face, when suddenly I felt cold and I froze.  _What in Tartarus_.

The blood rushed to my face, as I was immobilised by the discoverment of Eros staring at us, as if he was watching some kind of TV series or something. Surprise dissolved into rage and soon enough I was jumping out of bed, not giving a shit about the fact I was still in my underwear.

"Just what in Hades do you think you are doing?! You pervert god! Get out of my room, you have no right to spy on me!" I yelled. He smirked.

"I meant to chat with you, but since I found such a scene, I thought it wouldn't hurt to analyse whether you were doing it in the best possible way..."

"Get out!"

He turned to Leo. "You should've gone faster, she was really expecting you to..."

"GET OUT!!" I snapped and started pushing him towards the exit.  _Fuck you_ , I thought.

"You shouldn't use that kind of vocabulary in front of your father, nor a god. Besides, you're a lady, you know..."

"I don't have time to be a lady-like girl. I'm a fucking demigod, I have to fight monsters, face bitchy goddesses and jerky gods, learn greek mythology which is no longer mythology and I have to succeed in a quest to retrieve my little sister and your shitty bow and quiver 'cos apparently you're not capable of not losing them." I told him. I was super mad, more than super mad. It was probably the last 'relaxed' night I would've 'til the end of the quest, and he had totally spoiled my moment with Leo. Not to mention that my boyfriend was probably freaked out by now. "So tell me what in Tartarus did you want to talk about and get the fuck out of here."

"You remind me so much of your mother. Even though she was very cautious of her words and her manners." Anger suddenly left me. Were we going to talk about her?

"Is that what you wanted to talk about?"

"Your mother? Nah. I have to tell you some stuff you need to know. My brother Anteros has already shown you some." He stated. I freaked out. What Anteros had said was true?

"So all that stuff about my name and my precedence..." I couldn't bring myself to say it.

"It's very true. But I need you to see a little bit more." He continued, and before I could protest, his hands were on mine and I was on trance again. I thought I had finally forgotten the freaky experience with Anteros, but if my mind had, my body hadn't. The pain this 'talking to your soul' thing caused was unbearable.

Anteros had revealed me the truth of my existence. I was born because I was meant to exist. The Fates said there would be a child of Eros then, and he fulfilled that duty. My mother was no fixed point in time and space, though.  _Eros had chosen her_ , I hoped.  _He had loved her_ , I wished. I was born in the argentinian side of the Patagonia. My mother lived in Ushuaia, and she had a pretty humble life, away from her rich parents in Buenos Aires, the ones she would only talk to once a year, when she was to visit a cousin of hers in the US, and she would have to accept the tickets as a gift from them. Besides that, she wouldn't talk to them. She worked in Ushuaia as the manager in a tourism agency, there in Tierra del Fuego. She would usually go on trips around the Patagonia and near the Antarctic. In one of her trips to the US, when she visited Los Angeles, she met Eros. They had a brief affair and my mother went back to Argentina to notice she was pregnant. Not a month after that, due to her job, she met Fred. He didn't mind she was pregnant, and fell in love with her. In less than five months they were married. Fred was a good man, he took care of me as if I had been his own daughter. Although he was able to live in Argentina with my mother, he decided to take us to Chile, since he already had the citizenship there. My mother didn't mind being further from her parents. Even when I was born in Ushuaia, my memories are all from Puerto Williams. There I lived, there I was raised all and there I grew up. Fred had a tourism agency of his own, and with my mother's help, the business was a huge success. We had enough money to keep the business and go to live norther, where life could be cheaper, but my mother loved Tierra del Fuego, so we stayed. I was named  _Áfua_ , after the old yaghan word for  _ashes_. My mother had been told by one of her friends with native blood and traditions, that it was a name which would protect me, so she named me like that. She never thought it would be a weird nor an ugly name for a little girl, go figure why.

I had been chosen long ago to travel every year with my mother and get eventually abducted and taken to Camp Half-Blood and fulfil a prophecy with my death. Yay. That was what Anteros had told me, but it sounded crazy, so I chose to forget about it. Now I was being told it was all true.

What my father showed me wasn't any better. He showed me Hera's plans, all of them; and all the possible futures I had. None of them were nice. Why was he showing me so? I could easily run away now I knew the truth, letting me know these things didn't make me want to finish this quest any sooner. I came back to reality.

"Why are you showing me this?" I asked, noticing I had been crying while in trance again.

"So you know the truth when you make your choice" he told me.

"Why does it have to be  _me_? There're hundreds of half-bloods. It could've been anyone."

"No it couldn't. You know, when people say some couples are  _made_  for each other, it's not just an expression. You, for example, were made for loving that boy." He explained. "You were given an ancient protection with your name. Older than the world. The people south know things western civilisation never knew. Africans, egyptians... latin americans, southern hemisphere always had this sphere of influence where we could not interfere. That compelled me to give you one of my special blessings. You don't burn when that boy lights up because he can't burn the  _ashes_... he can't burn  _you_. You were  _made_  for him. That's why you were meant for this quest. You have to take him to his death and keep him from the destiny Hera is trying to give him." He pointed to the room. "Gaea knew that as well, she means to interfere and kill you and keep him alive, yet she knew she would have to make sure you'd come on the quest. Your sister's kidnap was no random event. It was meant to make sure you'd be in this quest."

"Are you telling me I have to lead Leo into a trap so I can fulfil my destiny of betraying my boyfriend and shatter my own heart to pieces?" I asked, incredulous. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm not. It is what you have to do. You were born for this."

"So you just went and slept with any mortal, no matter who she was so you wouldn't interfere with the Fates?"

"Well, not any mortal. I like them to have character, to be idealistic and if they're beautiful, even better..."

"I cannot believe this! You said my mother was  _special_!"

"She was! She got to sleep with  _me_!" He said, as if it were some sort of prize or trophy.

"You're a monster! You've got no heart. I cannot understand what did Psyche see in you. My mother has travelled forever since  _you_  left her, in hope she'll find you again, because you  _promised_  her you would meet again. She says she loves Fred, and she does, but she loved you so much more... I can't believe I stood up for you against Aphrodite! You're even worse than her!" I was yelling really loud, but I didn't care. "You just lie with mortals for duty, and you believe love is just a game of desire and attraction. When there's so much more to it."

"Oh, please, don't be childish. Love  _is_  just a game of desire and attraction. Sometimes beauty can interfere as a factor, but in the end it's always the same."

"Love is the undying, uninterested need to see someone completely and sincerely happy. There's no need of kisses, nor grazes, nor sex. I will prove you wrong. I will save my sister, Leo and Malcolm. I won't let any of them die and I'll retrieve your stupid bow and quiver in the process."

"It may cost you your life." He enlightened me.

"If I gave a real shit about dying, I would've stayed in Half-Blood Hill. I worry more about keeping alive the people I love." I said, and I went back into my room, slamming the door, feeling the anger release tears of frustration.  _What is this shit?_  When did the whole quest become so fucked up? Leo was staring at me with a sad look, holding my shirt in his hands. He'd clearly overheard the whole discussion. He looked worn out, as if this whole deal was way too much for him as well. He gently slid the shirt back on me again. I fell into his arms, and cried. He simply stood there, holding me tight, letting me know at least I wasn't alone in all this crap.

"We're gonna figure out a way" he said, brushing the hair off my face when I finally looked up. He looked so depressed, so troubled.

"There is a way already" I stated. I wasn't afraid of dying. If it was the price to pay for keeping Leo alive, I would've died a million times. He didn't like the idea, though.

" _Another_  way. I'm not letting you die." He said, clearly forbidding me to try to save him.

"But I can't save you and save everything else without dying." I told him.

"You don't have to save me. Take your sister and Malcolm back to camp. Be safe." I withdrew, getting rid of his touch.

"I won't have you dying. You haven't seen what the Erotes showed me. You  _must_ survive. I don't care if I die, I'm not afraid of death. But I'm terrified of having to live in a world where you don't breath anymore."

"I can't live without you either." He stated, not knowing the futures I had been showed. He knew so little.

"Yes you can! You can, and you will and you won't even care you'd ever loved me!" I yelled. I immediately wished I hadn't said so. I tried to walk to him, put my hand on his cheek, but he made my hand aside and avoided the contact.

"I would  _never_  forget you." He gave me a hurt look and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. I fell to my knees, crying, my heart broken. How did all of our world become this? This wasn't us. We didn't fight, not really; we didn't use language as a weapon, we didn't hurt each other. How could it be just a few minutes ago I was the happiest person in the world and right now I just wanted to disappear?

I tried to sleep, but voices haunted my sleep. I was still sobbing, even when I'd told myself it was no use. The tears wouldn't stop. At some point I gave up and walked to Leo's room as if it was the only cure for my teared up soul. As I lifted my hand to knock, the door swung open. Leo looked at me, surprised. I suddenly noticed he was on his way to my room, which cheered me up a bit. It didn't stop me from crushing against him and crying like a stupid weak girl; mumbling something like 'I'm so sorry' over and over again. I was sorry for the earlier situation, and I was sorry for crying like a little girl, and I was sorry for being sorry. What a mess, huh? He shushed me.

"Liz, it's okay. I understand you are dealing with a lot of stuff. Himeros explained to me earlier Anteros talked to your soul, and I guess that's what Eros just did. I believe they told you no fairytales. I was too selfish before to see that maybe what they told you was too much to handle. I just don't want to loose you, Lizzie." He cleaned my face with his thumbs, kissing my nose. "You are way too precious for me. I'm not very skilful at picking up girls, I can't afford to lose the only one who's fallen for me so far. Don't you ever doubt I love you, Liz, and the single thought of losing you is way too much for me to take in. You know I have been wandering around since my mother died. I thought I would never be able to find a place to call home again, but I did. You are my home, Lizzie. Liz, you are the only person who makes me feel home, who makes me feel welcomed. Who makes me feel not lost, not alone. And I just can't stand the thought of losing you, and all you mean to me."

I hugged him. He just wrapped his arms around me, and I stayed like that for a minute. I looked up and brushed my cheek against his, as we would do when we were not able to kiss. I closed my eyes, comfortable and sleepy, feeling my preoccupations fly away for a little while.

"I'm so sorry Leo." I said, thinking in the back of my mind I was about to make a promise I might not be able to keep. "We'll figure it out. A way to get the job done and make sure all of us survive. Okay?" He nodded. "Come here." I told him, and gave him a soft, bittersweet kiss. "Can I...?" I said, tilting my head towards his room.

He smiled, a bit of sadness still hiding in his grin. "I thought you'd never ask." He said, leading me inside. I almost cracked up when I saw his room was like a seven-year-old's. I was suddenly feeling more confident, regaining the strength the hopelessness had taken from me.

"Very manly" I mocked him.

"It's just so girls don't fall so easy under my spell."

"Yeah, 'cos you need to cool them down, being such hot stuff." I joked, he grinned. He lifted me and I giggled, and we both fell onto his racing-car bed.

"Good night, Leo." I told him, as I felt my eyelids heavy, my mind finally free from the voices that wouldn't let me sleep. He wrapped up his arms around me and kissed me behind my ear, in which I wore the piercing he had gifted me, what seemed so long ago.

"Good night, Liz" he said, and I felt him dozing off next to me, as I did as well, his breath making the exact same sound of a congested cat. I woke up with his arms around me, and I sticked to the sheets a little longer, feeling the dread that, when I woke up away from his arms, there would be no way back. Just a few mississippis after that, Leo woke up, groaning as he found out it was morning, and he wasn't able to doze off again.

"You didn't watch me sleep last night" I pointed out.

"It's getting old. If you keep coming to me every night I soon won't have to sleep with you at all" he joked, I gave him a 'quit joking' look. "I'd love to have you coming to me everynight."

I grinned. "Yeah, I don't doubt you'd love to have me coming everynight." I teased, and he lifted an eyebrow.

"You dirty talker..." He accused me.

"Watch it." I warned him, yet he smiled and gave me a brief kiss. "I don't want to get up." He admitted.

"Me neither" I agreed. "But we have to. We gotta get moving." We got ready and left Eros' mansion. And I made a silent prayer to never ever step into that place again.


	14. Jenga tower

Eros heard my prayers, that was for sure. As I stepped into 'Forbidden Affair' Himeros appeared in front of us, and I cursed. It hadn't been a minute since I'd left, and 'missing me' was no way a reason for him to make me go back.

"I'm so not going back in there." I said. Himeros had a sleepy look, his hair dripping wet, as if he had recently taken a shower. He was the most normal-looking of all the Erotes (I hadn't seen Pothos, but by Malcolm's description I think it's okay to state so) and I'd dare to say he was the most good looking of them all as well. I didn't feel the same dread I felt towards Anteros, nor the disgust my father provoked me. We had actually chatted a bit during yesterday's lunch and he'd been nice. Not too many questions, not too many jokes.

"Relax. I don't intend to force you. Although I think you will be interested in going back there." He said.

"Why? What do you want?" I asked.

"It's a secret, so I'll tell  _you_  only." He said, and before the guys could stop him, he touched my forehead with his fingertips and induced me a trance. Himeros' soul chat wasn't painful nor scary, nor abnormal, as Eros and Anteros' had been. It was gentle. I was in an old european street, somewhere that looked a bit like Venice (don't ask me how I knew it looked like Venice), surrounded by some trees in beautiful autumn orange. I could smell the scent of fall. He was sitting on a bench, and gestured me to sit next to him, and so I did.

"You see" he looked at his hands, lost in thought. "People is usually weary of unrequited love, but it's the most common thing ever. It may hurt, but it hurts just for a while. It sometimes creates fights or endless sadness, but it also creates the most beautiful, most uninterested acts of love. I believe unrequited love is common and necessary, and more harmless than requited love. That's why you may think I'm less weird than my brothers... or that I'm more likeable." I blushed.

"Uhm..."

"Don't worry, it's okay. People usually says they despise unrequited love, but they're always drawn to it. Its bittersweetness is very tempting. Passions usually take quite a role in this kind of love but, most of the time, there's no need of them." It made strange sense, but I agreed with him, although I still didn't know what did all of this have to do with me. "I have an offer to make you."

"I'm listening." I assured him.

"Eros lost his bow and quiver, but his arrows are still cautiously guarded. I can take you to his armoury. Eros' arrows are not just love or hate ones. There're more... Eros' special ones. Desire, gracefulness, sensuality, confidence, insecurity, clumsiness, jealousy, regret, forgetfulness... and  _oblivion_." The moment he finished, I matched the dots and I was able to see the picture. If I could just steal the right arrows and put them in my quiver, I might stand a chance to defeat the fate that had been settled for me. I still didn't know why his special interest on the oblivion arrow.

"Why would you bother to help me?" I asked.

"Very simple" he made a thoughtful pause. "I like you. I like the way you defend what you believe in and you fear no one to protect what's yours. I like how idealistic you're about love. If you didn't have a quest to complete, I might even feel inclined to ask you out." I felt my face burning. Was this a confession? Did anyone still confessed nowadays? "But you would say no, now or in that hypothetical situation, 'cos being me has a price. I rule unrequited love, so I'm never loved back, but someone has to do my job, right?" I looked him in the eye and I felt so sorry for him. It must've been pretty lonely to  _never_  be requited. I wanted to show him some affection, as a friend or whatever, it didn't truly matter if I could heal if just a bit his, probably, a billion times broken heart. But, inexplicably, the feeling slid out of me just as I began bringing it to existence.

"Okay, let's go." I said, and as I stood up, I realised I was still in trance. Himeros smiled.

I woke up in Leo's arms, Malcolm looking warily at Himeros, who was next to me, holding my hand. I blushed. Leo was clearly relieved when I came back, though he shot Himeros an angry look.

"He's taking me back into the mansion" I told the boys. "I have one thing left to do, but you can't follow."

"I'm not letting you out of sight." Leo declared.

"It is not wise to divide the group." Malcolm agreed.

"Oh, don't be such babies. I'll be back right away, trust me. Five minutes." I promised, and went back into the mansion following Himeros' shadow. I heard Leo shouting something to me, but Himeros must've locked the door behind me, because neither of them followed.

Eros' mansion proved itself as such when we went looking for the armoury. It took forever. More and more hallways and doors popped up as we turn around each corner; it was some kind of labyrinth, and I kept praying the whole way Himeros hadn't tricked me, cause there was no way for me to find the exit again all by myself. I usually forgot prayers are to be heard by the gods, and the Erotes were gods.

"I'm not tricking you, you know." He answered. He had his poker face on, and I couldn't tell what was he thinking. The orange rose in his shirt had its petals withering, dying, falling and growing back again, over and over. He caught me staring at it. "Each petal dies everytime someone gets rejected by the one it loves. Finally the rose dies and grows back again, since love never stops happening."

"But if Eros' bow and quiver are lost, why is love still happening?" I wanted to know. He grinned as if for saying it was a pretty damn good question.

"First of all, he's not the only one with a bow and a quiver." He lifted his hand and a bow materialised out of nowhere in his hand. Oh. "But even the gods can't control love completely. It happens with or without our doing. We can make it endure certain situations, force people into it, create discord, breakups, betrayals. But people can love each other without us."

"So why should I retrieve my stupid father his damn bow and quiver?" I asked. Wasn't the world better if the gods didn't mess with love at all?

"Because" and he seemed very confident about it, "if gods don't interfere with love, tragedies wouldn't be avoided."

"But you mainly create them!" I was confused. Everytime the gods tried to do 'their job' they fucked up everything.

"I'm not talking about tiny tragedies like a couple lives lost or a few broken-hearted youngsters. I'm talking about gigantic, end-of-the-world-like tragedies." His gaze was full of compassion as if he knew which one out of all the possible futures his brother had shown me was the one which was going to actually happen. "A few must suffer so the whole humanity can go on. I'm sorry you got caught in the few ones."

I felt like crying, but I swallowed back the tears. I wasn't going to cry when my true quest was to be strong and do whatever it took to complete my assignment and keep everyone alive. We reached the armoury soon enough, and I took four arrows. Love, hate, oblivion (due to Himeros' suggestion) and forgetfulness. I didn't know why I'd picked the last one, I just felt the urge to pick it.

When we were back in 'Forbidden Affair' both Leo and Malcolm had angry expressions. I said I was sorry, but they ignored me. Wonderful, now on top of everything I had two moody teenagers. I gave my farewell to Himeros instead of trying to reason with them.

"Thanks for everything" I told him. "Maybe I can't love you back, but I'm forever grateful to you." He gave me a sad smile. Then I lowered my voice, I didn't want Leo to hear me. "If I die, and everyone forgets, you'll remember, right?"

"Yes, I will." And that's how I knew what was the purpose for the arrow I'd taken the last. I brushed his chocolate curls off his cheek. I gave him a soft kiss on it, while I took advantage of his surprise and grabbed the forgetfulness arrow with my left hand. I withdrew and I stabbed him in the back. He had his orange eyes wide open, full with grief.

"Now I'm sure it won't be a painful memory." I didn't want anyone to feel sorrow for my death. Because even when I'd promised Leo we would figure out a way for all of us to stay alive, I wasn't that naive. My father had been saying the truth when he stated saving everyone would mean losing my life.

He gasped, as if for saying something, but that sweet end to his eyes whenever he looked at me wasn't there anymore. I walked out the place, Leo and Malcolm following.

"What was that back there?" Leo demanded, evidently jealous. I noticed I had teared up a bit.  _Damn_ , that wasn't in my plans.

"Oh, so now you want to talk to me." I said, walking with no specific destination. I just wanted to get away for a minute. Find myself some answers, get my mind around the decisions I was supposed to be making soon. But I didn't have time to waste, and that made me angry.

"You two, please don't start couple fighting. It's okay, we were childish to apply silent treatment to you, but we're on a quest, and you share so little with us. You just do stuff and tell us nothing." Malcolm reminded me, and I felt guilty and a bit ashamed, since he was right.

"I'm sorry" I apologised, and I looked around. A coffee shop was just opening, which was sort of strange, since it was around nine in the morning and they would've lost all its early-morning clients. Then again, the neighbourhood didn't look like an early-morning one, it had this very ghetto look I hadn't taken notice of before, mainly scandalised by being brought to a brothel by my own father. I'd never thought I'd step into such place, much less being led by my progenitor. "What about a coffee and a chat for catching up?" I suggested. They both nodded, yet Leo still wouldn't look at me.  _Tartarus_ , it wasn't my fault he got jealous so easily.

We sat down and I talked for a while. I told them why did I go back to Eros' mansion, what Eros and Himeros had shown me. I told them I could not tell them what had shown me Anteros because they were possible futures, and talking about them may settle one as certain. I told them about the arrows, and about almost everything— except my plans and Himeros' interest in me. But Leo was way too conscious of everything I did or said. He knew me too well.

"There's still something you're keeping from me." He accused me, and I knew immediately he gave a real fuck of how much I let Malcolm know, but he wanted me to be a hundred percent sincere with him, and I didn't blame him for wanting so. "And that something has to do with what happened  _before_." I lowered my eyes. I knew he was referring to my earlier tenderness towards Himeros but, thing is, I actually made him forget he ever felt slightly attracted to me.

"I know. I just... thought it was a personal issue." I said. I wasn't trying to hide it, but I didn't think it was okay to go around talking about other people's feelings towards me or anyone else. But Leo wasn't in for it.

"Why would you keep it from me? I thought we'd come clear last night." He was so moody, like trying to start a fight on purpose, as when I'd had the Will issue and he wouldn't lose an opportunity to let me know how much it bothered him.

"We did. I just don't have to tell you  _everything_ , you know? It's not about me, it's about Himeros, that's why I'm keeping it a secret." I was losing my temper as well. Leo knew how to drive me nuts, and Malcolm must've sensed it.

He cleared his throat. "I think there're some unresolved issues here, I'll go take a walk." He left before I could stop him. Actually, he left even before I could notice he'd said anything because, I was so angry, I'm ashamed to admit I was paying Malcolm no attention at all. It was like I was listening without really listening.

"You always hide stuff from me, and I have to open up and let you see everything about me without complains." Leo fought back, clearly not aware of Malcolm's retreat either. We both stood up, too heated up to have the argument while sitting.

"Gods, if it's such a sacrifice letting me know you, you can stop doing so. Look how depressed I am. 'Holy Zeus, Valdez won't let me know about his favourite motor oil brands anymore!' Such a tragedy." I knew I was pushing it. He blushed.

"Well, it isn't like your art and crafting skills are that interesting either."

"You didn't think so the other day when I had my costume on, you idiot!" I yelled.

"I had to be guarding you, cause you didn't seem to care you had such a short dress on."

"It was a cover. We had to infiltrate into a club and we're  _minors_." He was so retarded sometimes.

"Yeah, that's what you say, but I won't take any of your  _innocence_. 'Oh, I left something back in the mansion!' We both know you went back for  _him_. I've been playing dumb, but this is too much, Williams. You're always flirting with other guys and I just have to stand and stare while you smile and act all cutesy in ways you don't even act around me. Only the gods know what do you do when I'm not around to check on—" When I go back in time, while thinking, I usually imagine all the ways I could've done this right, but Leo Valdez knew exactly how to push me to the edge when he was willing to fight. All the tension of his jealousy and my stress had finally accumulated and been smashed altogether, so now it simply went  _ka-boom_!

"Are you implying I cheat on you, Valdez? Because, excuse me if I'm wrong, but you just said—"

"I know what I said." My mouth fell open. I had to look up to avoid tearing up. I was so not going to cry in front of my brainless boyfriend.

"You stupid jerk. I've been sick worried for you the whole quest and this is how you pay me. Being an insensible little piece of shit just because you can't control your jealousy. Well, congratulations Leo Valdez! You've finally proven me wrong when I thought there was no possible way for you to ever hurt me. You're an ultimate idiot! I had been completely afraid of other girls looking at you when we went to 'Latino Paradise', I pushed a gigantic rock for an hour, until my arms got numb from the effort, just so I could see your elfish face again. I had to stand three freaky gods talking to my soul, which is no pleasure trip; I had to endure the worst family reunion ever, getting to know my father was a jerk and steal from him all so I could keep you alive. Do you want to know what was I keeping from you? What I did to Himeros! The poor god confessed he liked me in a possibly romantic way but I kept quiet, because I thought of you. And so, I stabbed him with a fucking forgetfulness arrow so he could forget he  _ever_  felt anything towards me. So, yeah, I was keeping something from you, sue me. But because it had nothing to do with you, since I believe other people's feelings towards me are none of your business, unless they threaten our relationship, but this didn't. But  _you_ , being a damn idiot, are a threat." He obviously looked ashamed. He tried to say something, but I could tell the words weren't coming out of his throat. He reached for my hand, but I withdrew. Everything felt so wrong, so wrong.

"Liz, I..." he faltered.

"What? This is not who we are, Leo. This quest is tearing us apart. It's tearing  _me_  apart. Sometimes I think it would be better just to—"

"No. No, no, no. Liz, you can't be serious about it. No, no. We can do this. We just have to,  _I_  just have to try harder. That's all." He looked so scared of the suggestion I'd just hinted. I felt so heartbroken, looking at him making the face of a five year old who didn't want to be grounded without Christmas.

"But Leo, you know I can't ignore the fact that the discussion we just had was  _real_." He grabbed my arm. His touch, even over my jacket, was warm, and I couldn't believe I was so cold. "I don't know what to do." He must've felt desperate, cause the kiss he gave me then was full of despair, right before it became sweet, revitalising and reassuring.

"I know what I feel everytime I look at you, everytime I'm with you. You bring some peace to all this craziness, Lizzie. If there's anything I should keep in this quest no matter what, it's what I have with you." Even when I wanted to slap him and stay angry with him for at least a week, he had a point, and it was that no matter what, Leo was my only certain thing in all this mess, and losing it might break forever the fragile balance my mind had been through for the past two days.

Why couldn't I stay angry with him? That made me angry with myself. I didn't want to be one of those silly girls who let love take hold of their proud, of their common sense and their self respect. But I looking at Leo, I could tell he was taking back all he said, and how worried he was; and all I felt like doing was letting him know everything was okay, that I wasn't mad at him and that we would stick together forever. Telling him otherwise would be like kicking a puppy.

"Can't we just go back in time to cabin inspection and stay like that forever?" I asked. His hands tried to reach mine, and this time I let him. I started playing with his fingers. "I'm sorry, Leo. I guess I've been giving you reasons to feel the way you said you did. I don't want you to doubt me. Even if we've been together for a really short while, I don't doubt what Ii feel. You interrupt me almost always I'm about to say it, but I love you, you fool. I really do.  _I love you_ ,  _je t'aime_ ,  _ti amo_ ,  _eu te amo_ ,  _aishiteru_ , _jag älskar dig_ ,  _ich liebe dich_ , _s 'agapó_... in every language and every way.  _Te amo con todo mi corazón*_ , Leo." I apologised even when I would normally never have. Love makes you stupid, alright.

"I shouldn't have doubted you, Liz. You've proven yourself faithful a thousand times. I love you too, you know. I really do." He rested one hand on my hips, the other one he used it to brush my hair.

"So you rejected a god for me?" He said with a proud smile.

"Oh, don't think too highly of yourself. Turns out you can't love back the god of unrequited love. I just saved him some lost-in-thought nights. But yeah, I guess I'm Team Leo."

"Team Leo?" He said with a curious smile.

"Stupid suggestions my brain made when you were running towards me when I was with Will at the beach..." I tried to rest it importance, but he was so proud of himself.

"So I get to be what? The shiny vampire or the llama werewolf?" He asked. It took me a while to get the reference and understand his question.  _Oh, Leo_. Wait, did that mean he had watched the movie?  _I_  hadn't been thinking of that.  _What in Tartarus_...

"The shiny vampire, of course. You also have the creepy habit of watching people sleep."

He shrugged. "Well, at least he gets to keep the chick, so I guess I'm cool with it."  _Seriously_. My boyfriend had watched the entire Twilight movie. That was so wrong.

"Yeah, I guess you got me." I told him, rolling my eyes, still trying to understand under which circumstances would get Leo to watch Twilight. A playful grin curved his lips.

"Specially last night." He said. "Hadn't we been interrupted, we..." he left the end suspended in the air, the exact way to let me remember what had happened. My mind brought back with no effort the way everything had felt on its very place, how his shaky hands explored my skin and the beautiful picture of his bronze skin against mine, so pale in contrast to his. I felt my face hot, knowing what would've happened.

"Nothing would have happened." I said, not exactly sure why was I denying the situation. It had been pretty clear to me at the moment I was about to have sex with him. Love makes you stupid, I insist. He seemed to find my comment amusing, as if it were wishfully naive.

"You're so not escaping next time." He told me softly. I shivered, barely remembering we were still in the middle of some tough neighbourhood, at a coffee shop, mounting a scene.

"I bet you'll be the one who'll never want to leave after I'm done with you." He lifted an eyebrow, and I let go of a nervous smile. How could I've ever been mad at him?

"Be careful, Liz. You are playing with fire here." He said, knowing the playful meaning to his choice of words. "I'm so sneaking into your cabin when we get back to camp." He assured me, before giving me a soft caress along my jawline and lifting my chin to give me a gentle kiss, which was slowly turned into one a little more passionate. I kept playing with his left hand, tracing figures on the back of his palm.  _Yeah, when we get back to camp_ , I thought with fear stuck in my throat. We stopped kissing, and just held hands and stared at each other, probably trying to read our thoughts for what seemed forever to me. I went back to reality when I came to the realisation Malcolm wasn't back from his 'walk'.

"Uhm, Leo." I said.

"I know, Liz, but we're in the middle of the street." He said and I gifted him a bewildered expression.  _The what_? I didn't think we were on the same page right then.

"No, you silly Christmas elf. I meant to point out Malcolm went for a walk a while ago and he still hasn't come back." He looked down, clearly ashamed. What had he thought I was talking about?  _You fool_.

"Oh, right." We left some money on the table and ran towards where we thought he had gone to. We didn't have to look for long. In fact, just around the corner was Malcolm. The problem was he wasn't alone. I took the blowpipe I kept in my jacket pocket and I struggled a bit but in three seconds, the dart was in its place. He gave me an impressed face, mixed with fearful admiration.  _Exactly, don't you dare to get on my bad side_.

"Watch it, Liz.  _Wow, you fast_." He mumbled. He clearly wasn't thrilled by the acquaintance. "But I don't think you wish any harm to the goddess Hera." When I first saw the shiny woman next to Malcolm, I felt the need to shoot her a dart right between the eyes. Now I felt like aiming at her with my bow and arrows. She was the little bitch who had planned my boyfriend's life and all the shitty stuff about it Leo wasn't even in knowledge of, yet.  _You bitch_ , I thought, while I kept my blowpipe on my lips, the images Anteros had shown me dancing at the back of my mind. The goddess smiled.

"Such a brave spirit, young lady." The marriage goddess regarded me, her eyes glittering with a simple message 'Forget about ever getting married and forming a family'. She was so charming, just as Aphrodite or the Erotes.

"Tía Callida" Leo whispered, and I knew she was the bitch. Only Leo didn't know I knew about those details from his past. He had told me pretty much everything, but I happened to know more than that. I had been there, as an spectator, for a whole soul chat, far in the past, near in the present. All his life. He would've felt stalked, which wouldn't have necessarily made him feel bad, but I wasn't going to take chances. I had also witnessed pretty personal stuff.

"So what do you want?" I asked. "Why did you take Malcolm?"

"Take him? Oh, no. I simply requested him to have a nice chat with me. Didn't I, demigod?" Her sweetness was so damn fake. Malcolm didn't dare to contradict her, though. "I found it thoughtful of me to wait for you and make sure everything was going alright." She definitely glanced at me, with the explicit intention to let me know that if I fucked up her plans, or the quest, or both, I was doomed. Well, at least I had to recognise she went straight to the point. None of the sweet talk shit of Aphrodite, nor the banquet pretence of my father.

"So I guess you know where to go next." She proved me. I wasn't going to let her get away with it.

"A preschool. 'Comfy shelter'. But we need a ride. Gaea has already tricked us, and I have no wish to be fooled by her again. We can not travel by land, and the place is near Washington." I explained. I would kill her if I could, but I needed her help even more. I was impulsive, but not stupid. This goddess needed me to do the right thing for her plan to continue working, but if I got too offensive she would pulverise me and get herself another tool.

"I can only offer you these" she pointed to a couple of motorcycles parked next to us, which hadn't been there when we turned around the corner.

"We  _can't_  travel by land." Malcolm repeated, as if he was done with the goddess as well.

"I  _know_ , but on these you'll suffer no harm. You'll be out of Gaea's reach." The goddess promised. "I hope you fulfil your tasks, demigods." She was once again glaring intensely at me.  _Don't fuck up_. She disappeared into a blinding light, and we all closed our eyes before getting pulverised. I looked at the guys. Malcolm was giving us a crossed look.

"So, good chat with Hera?" He tried. Malcolm almost killed him with his eyes.

"Okay, no need of it. I guess we have to get moving now." I suggested.

"Did the two of you come clear on your couple issues?" Malcolm wanted to make sure he'd have to take no more 'walks' what was left of the quest.

"Yeah, Liz promised not to kick me again while she's sleeping again. Last night she did and the bruise that came out today is enormous." My mouth fell open.

"Hey! I don't complain because you snored in my ear all night. And you do snore, you know." I told him, and turned to Malcolm. "Although he has super non-manly snoring. He sounds like a congested kitten. It's actually kind of cute." I was laughing softly by then, and I only stopped and blushed when Malcolm shook his head and rolled his eyes as if for saying 'unbelievable'.

"We're on a quest, I can't even look at you. Last night—"

"Dude, nothing happened. Eros' mansion turned out to have parental control." Malcolm looked exasperated again. Okay, time to change the subject. I walked up to the motorcycles and took a pair of keys.

"So, how do the two of you feel about a ride to kindergarten?" I asked, and they both grinned. Apparently they'd forgotten the bikes, because they were eating them with their eyes now. "Hey, watch it. Don't check out the ladies like that. They might feel offended, you know." Leo lifted his glance for a sec. His eyes sparkled.  _You're incredible_ , they seemed to say.

* * *

**Translations:  
** *I love you with all my heart.


	15. Heart of chalk

It was a huge surprise to see Hera around the corner. I had just gotten off an emotional roller coaster and I was exhausted, so the last panorama on my list was chatting with a goddess. Good to know Hera didn't want to be a stranger. Next time she could show up at the Erotes' mansion and tell them not to mess with her plans, and let me be with my girlfriend without giving her stupid ideas like giving up her life or trying to break up with me. Having love affairs with winged dudes. I know that nothing happened, but that Himeros tried to make a move on my girl, and I gave a flying monkey's ass about whether he'd forgotten her or not. He was at the top of my 'black list' which basically meant next time we met him (if there needed to be a next time, 'cos if we could just never meet him again that would be awesome) he would have to deal with my hateful glare and a couple jokes about how silly he looked with a rose in his pocket. I know, I was going to be too rough on him, maybe I should restrain myself and only use the jokes.

Tía Callida was as charming as ever, glancing now and then at Affie as if she was some kind of disgusting plague she should take care of. In fact, she looked like some mother disapproving of her son's girlfriend choice. That made me mad, because Hera was definitely not my mother, and you had to be a really stupid mother to hate on Affie. She was the perfect girlfriend, the kind of girl all mothers expect their sons to date.  _I_ , on the other hand... I had been wondering for a couple of days now what would happen if I ever had to meet Affie's mom. Should I have to call her  _Tía_  and pretend I was taking good care of her at camp, not letting her sword fight ('cos I'd asked her not to, but she wouldn't listen) and not sneaking into her cabin? I was so sure anytime I'd say something like ' _Tía, tiene una hija grandiosa. Duerme tan pacíficamente(1)_ ' and I would fuck up. Or maybe I'd blurt out something like 'YES I DO LOVE YOUR DAUGHTER!' and then I'd realise I was yelling in greek and I'd curse and I'd stay quiet and playing with wires the rest of the time, because I would be so weirded out by the fact I'm no good with organic life forms. To be honest, the idea of meeting Affie's mom scared me only half of what scared me getting to meet her step dad. The way she talked about him made me think I was so doomed whenever he got to know  _I_  was who his daughter was dating. Cause she'd Iris-messaged her parents a couple times when we were at camp, but so far she hadn't obliged me to drop by and say hello.

By the time I stopped freaking out myself with terrifying scenes of me as a most despicable son in law, Hera was taking her leave, so I had to close my eyes in half a second. I decided to start some 'Gods again,  _awkward_ ' conversation with Malcolm, but he was in no mood for it. Okay, I might've gotten a bit caught up in the fight and posterior reconciliation, but hey, had he seen Affie? He'd admitted himself once my girlfriend was a knockout, and there was no freaky Aphrodite blessing on her at the moment to blame it on something like that.

Affie did know how to get us out of the awkward situation I'd created by giving away too much information, although I could notice this time she'd been way cooler about it than when we'd left camp. I felt inexplicably happy. Then excited because those motorcycles were some beautiful babes. Affie warned me not to get too obsessed with them.  _Curse you, woman_. She knew me so well.

"Wow, cool." Malcolm said, when he realised which kind of motorbikes Hera had given us. By the time he got to whistle in admiration, I was already all over them.

"Dude, these are two Harley Davidson Model EL. They're from the nineteen forties. Forty six, to be exact. They aren't just  _cool_." I went back to the bikes.  _Shh, don't listen to the blond boy, he might be smart but he knows nothing about you sweethearts_. You might think I'm crazy, but they could actually get offended.

"So, who has a motorbike license?" I asked. Only Malcolm raised his hand. I was a bit impressed. "You can drive? Sweet."

" _You_  can't?" Affie asked, clearly surprised.

"Well, I actually could, because I have this thing with machines and I can sort of talk to them, so they tell me all I need to know and the rest is just instincts doing their job..." I explained.

"I never thought you could get geekier when it came to machines, but you have outdone yourself again, Valdez." She said, walking up to one of the bikes. She got on and she accommodated her  _Heffalump_  backpack (I never understood why did she wear such cute stuff that didn't match her tough-girl image at all) and looked at us as if we were wasting her time. "What are you two waiting for? Let's go."

"Wait, you can  _drive_?" I said, and Malcolm's face told he was just as surprised as me. Her expression changed immediately to one which let us know we'd offended her.

"What?  _Of course_  I can."

"You just said you didn't have a license." Malcolm pointed out.

"I don't, but that doesn't mean I can't." She turned the keys and the bike roared, so we knew she was being serious. "Valdez, wanna ride with me?" She asked, and I knew it was a subtle order. I was fine with it, though. I hopped on behind her and took advantage of the fact I had to hold her waist in order not to fall and die and, also, it was a bike meant to be ridden by one person only, so I had to hug her  _very_  tight. Malcolm hopped onto his, looking clearly weary of Affie's statement.

"So where are we going?" Malcolm asked.

"Oh, to the western part of the city." Affie said.

"Weren't we supposed to go to Washington?" Malcolm was visibly confused.

"I just wanted a nice ride to the place." Evil and smart girl. I'd known she was like that all along, but no one would listen to me. "I thought she'd give us chariots, but this is way better." Malcolm sighed, giving me a look of 'Your girlfriend is nuts, but sharp' and started his bike. He took off and we followed.

"Valdez!" Affie complained a second after we took off.  _Oups_.

"Oh, I'm sorry, wasn't that part of the leather seat?" I excused myself, although I knew it was a poor excuse, and I was doomed.

"My trousers are no leather seat, Valdez! Much less the section that covers my butt. I still have my blowpipe at easy reach distance, and thanks to Hera it's now loaded, so I wouldn't get too creative if I were you." I said okay and rested my head over her shoulder, letting the cold wind and her wild hair hit me in the face. I knew I shouldn't have gifted her a weapon, 'cos she would definitely use it against me. Her lily shampoo struck me as her hair kept hitting me on my face. I could get used to this, as to many other things about her, like her kicking while she's fast asleep, having her trying to pass her maniac reading obsession onto me (which would never happen) or having to walk blocks with a  _Heffalump_  backpack 'cos she forgot it home. I could get used to her every single way, and I wouldn't mind having to.

Turns out Affie did know how to drive, but she was tense the whole way. I had first thought she had been weirded out by my shameless move, but I later figured it had nothing to do with that. She was humming some song... I couldn't tell which one was it, yet I could tell she was a bit out of tune.

"Why are you so tense, Liz? And what are you humming?" She sighed, as if she'd hoped I wouldn't notice.

" _Muchacha ojos de papel(2)_. I hum when I want to get a hold of my nerves. I don't like driving. Not motorcycles. I get super stressed trying not to crush nor kill anyone nor kill ourselves, and I don't enjoy that feeling." She confessed.

"I could drive, you know."

"No. I don't want you flirting with any classic, hot machines." She was so cute when jealous. No sane girl on the Earth's surface would ever be jealous of a motorbike. Maybe she knew me  _too_  well. Maybe she just knew how to make me go crazy about her. It was difficult to focus on the quest with her around... gods, it was difficult to concentrate on  _anything_  but her when she was around.

"They are classic, hot machines indeed. But I've already got me a more interesting toy. One I can't quite figure out." She had her eyes sticked to the road, but I could tell she wanted to turn around to look at me.

"Are you implying you find me interesting because you don't understand the way I function?" I could feel the confusion in her voice, as if she didn't know whether to make a good thing or a bad thing of my comment.

"That's not what I meant. I don't understand how people work, and I don't find them all interesting. I find you interesting instead 'cos I don't need to understand you, Liz. You work perfectly all on your own." She said nothing, so I thought maybe I'd made it awkward.  _Damn_. I tried changing the subject. "Have you, uh, talked with your family since your sister went missing?" More silence. Maybe I should just shut up, but she finally spoke up.

"No. I actually felt a bit mad and confused because they never told me a thing, they told Chiron instead. I miss them." Yeah, missing was a feeling I could get related to. I didn't miss many people, but those who I missed, I missed them a lot. My mother, Festus. "I was looking forward talking to them, I was hoping next time we talked, I could..." She shook her head, like she was trying to get rid of a silly idea.

"You could...?" I wondered.

"I could invite you over. I mean, I know it's been only a month since we started dating, but my mother was so excited about it—"

"Your mother is excited about you  _dating_?" I was now the one confused. First, Hera had had a great timing for giving her quest. Then, why would any mother be excited about her daughter dating  _me_? "She hasn't met me, that must be it." She laughed. We were yelling, and it was difficult to hear her over the traffic, but her shaking ribs were an unmistakably sign of laughter.

"She is. And there's very little you could do to get on her bad side. She's been worried forever since my longest relationship lasted two days and three hours, before you. When I first told her, and I let her knew we'd been dating for over a week, she was about to buy tickets for our marriage. It was a bit difficult to talk her out of it and explain her I am still sixteen. My dad seemed happy I apparently had finally understood dating is a serious thing." I was in shock. First, it always hit me a bit hard to remember Affie was a tough girl with the world but she loved her little sister and had the best possible relationship with both her parents. Second, she had just said I wasn't an unwanted boyfriend. How many possibilities of that ever happening were there?

I didn't have to think about that anymore, because we stopped at a gas station so we could give Malcolm the detailed address of where we were heading to. Also, we had strategy planning to do, which meant free time for me. I didn't like it, that feeling of 'I'm useless at planning battle' but I guessed we all had a moment when we felt incompetent. Or so I hoped. I had just come out of the grocery store when I saw Affie, first yelling, then talking... to a wall. When I'd thought I made the girls go coo coo, I didn't think a long term exposure would drive them insane for real. Thank the gods, when I got closer, I saw she was talking through Iris message. Sadly, I didn't stop to check who was she talking to before I dropped by.

"Hey Liz, time for you to give me that blowpipe. I don't want you to use it against me." I yelled, and I'd only figured I'd fucked up when she gave me a wide eyed warning look, too late, and I saw the person at the other side of the line. Suddenly what I'd just said, taken out of context, was a terrible thing to tell to anyone's daughter. Then again, I'd been talking greek so, thanks Hephaestus, they did not understand me.

Mrs. Williams was a shockingly beautiful woman. She had mom-like looks, yet she still struck me as outstandingly gorgeous. She had long black hair, ghostly pale skin, paler than Affie's (I never thought that possible) and trapping dark eyes. Mr. Williams, to her left, was clearly what most people would consider handsome, the kind of dude who always made me think, until they stopped walking the Earth, I would never find myself a girlfriend. Guess I was wrong. He was way taller than his wife (even while sitting), had darkish blond hair and affable green eyes. No ice-cold blue eyes I'd expected from a british guy. The following conversation has been translated from spanish to english for all of you to understand, courtesy of myself, who was shocked and had to do a inhuman effort to translate as well as existing.

" _Mi amorcito(3)_ , who is he?" Asked Mrs. Williams.

"He is my, uhm,  _pololo, mamá(4)_." Don't ask me what  _pololo_  meant. I have not the slightest idea, but by the looks of it, I think it might've meant boyfriend.

"Oh, so he's your  _novio_." There it is, it did mean boyfriend. Mr. and Mrs. Williams checked me out. It was the first time I'd felt it the worst thing you could do to me. " _Hija(5)_ , there're loads of latin guys here. If you didn't like chilean guys, I could've taken you to Argentina—" Mr. Williams kept silent.

" _Mamá_! I didn't pick Leo because he was latin american. Anyways, we were talking about Jessica." She told them and Mr. Williams finally said something. His silence had me truly nervous.

"Are you helping her on the quest, Leo?" I got truly scared when I noticed he was talking in english, with a very heavy british accent, clearly isolating us. He'd pronounced my name the way most people did:  _Lee-oh_. I could hear Affie and her mother kept talking. I also figured that they should be still in the US, and that Affie's mother probably had had to come clear about gods, Camp Half-Blood and Affie's true dad with Mr. Williams.

"I am, sir. She asked me to come along, but I didn't want it any different." I admitted, my hands on my pockets, trying not to look as uncomfortable as I felt.

"Is it... is it dangerous?" He was so different from Eros. I could tell from his voice, and the look he was giving me, he was sick worried for Affie, even when she wasn't his biological daughter.

"It is, sir." I didn't feel like lying to him. Also, I feared he would walk through the Iris message and beat me down if I did.

"Take care of her. And of Jessie, when you find her. They're the most important things I have, besides my wife." He smiled gently, and I my freak out was even worse. I preferred being hated than being trusted. Too much responsibility.

"Wait, what? No sermons? No 'Get away from my daughter or else...' warnings?" I was so disappointed. I had always trusted parents not to trust me.

"I believe my daughter is wise enough to choose who she wants to be with herself. If she needed to break up with you, she would already have." I didn't like the way he'd said so. It implied a very subtle 'She can still break up with you whenever she founds you no longer deserve her' which made me very insecure. Clearly he wasn't a hundred percent sure of me.

"...a lot of people asked for you on the dance competition. A lot of them said it was a shame you weren't going to dance anymore. José also seemed a bit disappointed. Anyways, your Leo is quite handsome. But he isn't too tall, even though he's taller than you—" I got to listen Mrs. Williams saying. She pronounced my name the same way Affie did. She worried about my  _height_? Which kind of preoccupation was that one? Also, which dance competition? Since when did Affie dance? I tossed the thought and concentrated on the conversation instead.

" _Mamá_  I already told you—" I saw Malcolm coming out of the services, where he'd probably left to when Affie got the Iris message.

"Liz, you should hang up... you know, Malcolm is already coming." I said in some rusty spanish, since what I'd just heard had been Mrs. Williams' strong argentinian accent, Affie's plain accent in contrast to her mother's.

"Yeah,  _má(6)_ , Leo is right. I must go. I'll see Jessie safely returned to you." Her mother smiled, clearly concerned.

"Take care,  _hija_. You should return too, for a couple weeks at least. You're missing summer. You could bring your  _novio_  too." Travelling to the end of the world with Affie did sound surreal, yet incredibly tempting. If we ever got to finish this quest, it would be an amazing pleasure trip. Sadly, I had a prophecy to complete first, so I wouldn't be taking any pleasure trips anytime soon.

" _Chao. Los amo(7)_." She waved the message and it disappeared. She looked at me, concerned.

"Well, that was weird. I'm sorry. They called all out of the blue and I supposed it was okay since you both were doing other stuff, plus I hadn't heard of them in more than two weeks so—"

"It's okay, Af. We understand. I do, at least. I have no idea what were you talking about, but I think your parents seemed pretty nice. Very preoccupied of their daughters' sake, which is the most important thing in a parent, in my opinion." This time Malcolm was the one to calm her down. After that, he started looking over his maps and such. We didn't know what were we going to find there, so we had to be prepared for anything.

"I'm sorry you got caught up like that." She murmured to me while Malcolm kept mumbling hypothesis and plans based on them. "I'd have never forced you into talking to my parents."

"It's okay. Seriously. They were quite nice." And they were. Gods, they didn't hate on me, that was much more than I could ask for.

"Even the chat with my dad? Cause I'd the feeling he'd be harder on you." And he'd been, but I couldn't tell her so.

"He was just preoccupied about your safety on the quest, asked me to look after you. And, you know, about the trip—"

"Yeah, you don't need to. My mother doesn't really think when she invites people over, if it's uncomfortable for you—"

"I was about to say it was a pretty cool idea. When all this prophecies-and-quests stuff is over, we could go visit your parents. I think I'd love a trip through South America." I smiled to her. She smiled too, but her smirk was slightly sad. I guessed it was because she didn't think we'd get out of destinies and prophecies in a close future. I now wish I'd been right and that had been the only thing she was worried about.

"You two" Malcolm spoke up. "Please tell me you weren't just ignoring me and you heard all I've just said." After our apologetic smiles and Malcolm's sigh of exasperation we hopped on the motorbikes and drove off to 'Comfy shelter'. Affie still wouldn't let me drive.

"Since when do you dance?" I asked, not being able to hold it any longer.

"Since I am three. I started dancing because in dance competitions everybody hates each other, so it was no different from normal life, and because it was fun. I danced with a guy I met in the dance academy, a very small one that was also the only in Puerto Williams, José. He got a brand new girlfriend a couple of months ago. We were not best friends, but he didn't hate me nor hit on me, so I suppose we were close. We were supposed to go for the world championship this year. He must've been surprised when my mother told him I wasn't dancing anymore." Why was there always unknown to me about her? Was there a moment when I would finally know everything there was to know? Part of me wanted to know all about her, part of me thought it better to let her have little mysteries. She sounded so nostalgic when she talked about dancing.

"What did you dance?" I somehow couldn't picture her with a dress, dancing slow motion with some guy.

"Latin dances. Merengue, salsa, cumbia and bachata, mostly. Bachata was mainly for fun, though. It was way too sexy for dancing it for real. José's girlfriends would get jealous, I mean, more than usual." I did not understand her. How could any of those dances be any sexy at all? Then I gave it a second thought. Fast moves; short, tight, thin, silky dresses... and slow moves, really close and slow moves.  _Oh_. Well, maybe I was mistaken after all.

 

When we got to the preschool, it looked like any other place, but just as The Mist started dissipating, we saw the Earthborn guarding the entrance. There were only three of them, which seemed suspicious. We parked a block from the place and tried to see if there were any kids there. It was almost midday, so we figured if it was still functioning, there would be kids attending for classes. We waited for about an hour or so, when the first parents started dropping by to pick up their kids. I was eating some gummy bears I'd bought at the gas station. Waiting made me get bored.

"Look, this one's lost its head." I said, showing the gummy bear to Affie. She rolled her eyes.

"Seems you've lost it as well."

"Yup, for you." I mocked, grinning.

"Ugh, Valdez, don't tell me you're going to get cheesy." She looked annoyed.

"Too cheesy, right. Well, what about 'I'm burning up for you, baby'." I tried. I seriously got annoying when bored, but I couldn't help it.

"Are you really practising your pick up phrases right now?" She warned me, although the look in her eyes was slightly playful. "Plus, that's a Jonas Brothers' song." She commented, as she focused again in the preschool and the little kids leaving the building.

"Oh, but this is different, I  _am_  burning." I let some tiny flames light up around me. She turned around when she sensed I was in stove mode.

"Leo Valdez. You're unbelievable." Was all she said. The flames died. She was so boring when in duty. Then again, we were probably facing the location where her sister was being kept captive in a possible life or death situation, and me not knowing to behave properly according the moment, did nothing to improve her mood.

"Patience is not one of my treats. And I don't have Elina's brother here to annoy him instead." Both she and Malcolm turned around this time.

"Elina?" They asked, at unison.

"Yeah, you know, Anteros. He's got this butterfly wings just like the fairies in Barbie Fairytopia—"

"Are you telling me you watched the movie?" Affie exclaimed, incredulous. She turned to Malcolm. "Please tell me he hasn't watched Barbie Fairytopia." Malcolm shook his head.

"I think he did, Af."

"Gods, Leo, there are several things you could've done, but this... even Twilight was acceptable—"

"He watched  _Twilight_?" Malcolm was the one out of his mind now. I thought it was time to get a hold of the situation.

"Hey, those movies were really fun to watch. Now, weren't we supposed to check on the children leaving the preschool?" They both remembered their duties and went immediately back to keeping watch. I went back to swallowing gummy bears, when something inside the building caught my eye. "Af, call me crazy, but a really beautiful half woman was sliding across a room inside the building."

"What do you mean  _sliding_?" Malcolm demanded.

"What do you mean  _really beautiful_?" Affie wanted to know, instead.

"Uhm, I mean mid twenties, blond, green eyed, dressed by a thin piece of silk woman with a serpent tail instead of legs, or feet, sliding across the room. If you ignore she's Sir Hiss from the waist down, she's pretty." I somehow did not care Affie was right next to me and ready to punch me. I cared when her fist hit me, though. " _Ouch_." I complained, but she looked away. They both scanned the building cautiously.

"Jessie!" Affie exclaimed.

"And the half snake woman! Well, she  _is_  pretty." Malcolm agreed. Affie looked as if she was going to kill us both. That somehow shook me out of the trance I was in. She dragged us both behind a building.

"Okay, so here's the plan. That thing in there is Lamia. Her children were slaughtered by Hera because she was Zeus' mistress. Yay, Hera's a bitch, what a surprise. Now, she went all nuts after that, so she started eating children, and that got her to develop monstrous treats. In later myths she also likes eating up young men, which means the ones like  _you_. You have to understand you also get under her spell and you can't see her as she really is. Also, she must be only waiting to decide whether my sister will taste better as a grill or as sushi rolls."

"So how do we kill her?" We, Malcolm and I, needed to know.

"We don't. We create a diversion, we take my sister, the bow and the quiver, assuming she has them, and we get the hell out of there." Malcolm and I agreed. Trying to fight her after having to get rid of, at least, three Earthborn, with two of us under some sort of charm spell, wasn't going to get us far enough. Plus, if Gaea was behind all of this, there wouldn't be  _just_  the Earthborn and Lamia.

"What do we do then?" Malcolm asked as he was tracing a mental strategy. He made this face when he narrowed his eyes and looked deep into nada which made it easy to tell he was planning stuff. It was also a funny face.

"Show time." Affie announced, taking off her  _Heffalump_  backpack and I knew I wasn't going to like this. Whatever it was, at least, it couldn't be worse than the steampunk Christmas elf, or so I thought. Thank Hephaestus, it wasn't that bad after all.

* * *

 

**Translations:**

1\. Aunt (latin americans usually call "aunt" or "uncle" older people, ever if they're not related), you've got a great daughter. She sleeps so peacefully.

2\. Literally "Girl eyes of paper". A song from 1969 by the argentinian band  _Almendra_.

3\. Literally "my little love", although "sweetie" or "honey" would be more accurate translations.

4\. Mom.

5\. Daughter.

6\. Short for mamá (a.k.a. mom).

7\. Bye. I love you (plural you).


	16. Show time

I was sure this wasn't my most brilliant plan ever but it was the only one I had. I did not trust the guys to fight on my side against Lamia, and we didn't have time to waste. We had to wait until sundown, which is never what you want to do in the company of Leo Valdez. He was a charming guy, but also a most impatient boy. Leo was starting to annoy me when the sun finally hid in the horizon. I had already explained them my plan. We were going to cause a distraction, which in this case was a delivery monster show. Yeah, I know, amazing plan, how long until we all got eaten? But it was the best I could manage in such rushed situation and with half my brain thinking how my little sister's baby sitter was a children-eating daemon. Your everyday choice for taking care of your loved ones. So, while I and one of the guys (we hadn't decided yet which one but since I knew stuff they didn't, I selfishly wished for Leo to stay safe, and Malcolm to go with me) made a most convincing show, the remnant guy had to sneak around Lamia, get my sister and get the Hades out of there while the other two took it on Lamia long enough for one of us to retrieve the bow and quiver (we had already checked from afar and they  _were_  inside) and retreat as well, so we could all hop on the motorcycles and never return.

We had about six hours until midnight, when we'd planned to start the operation. I had already shown them the costumes for the 'show' so none of them were willing to volunteer. I was hoping for more cooperation, but by the looks of it, I would have to force one of them into it.

"Look, if none of you is willing to do this, fine. I'll go in there by myself and I'll get my sister alive, but don't ask me to leave alive as well, nor to retrieve Eros' stupid bow and quiver cause I'm so not going to be able to do it." I told them, seriously angry. They didn't have any better ideas, but they knew pretty well how to mess with mine.

"I seriously don't know how to dance. Also, it's pretty cold out here. I'm going to freeze." Malcolm offered.

"I'm not making you change until right before we have to get in. And I can teach you the basics, once you get the rhythm it's mainly improvisation." Then I saw the look in Malcolm's eyes.  _I'm so not an improviser_. So I turned to Leo. "Come on." I begged. I seriously needed to get my sister out of there and be done with this once and for all.

"Okay" he said, and I was so happy I kissed him on the cheek. He was clearly unhappy with his part on the plan, but I was so grateful, like when I first met him, so incredibly happy he was there to help me out. The angst in my heart got bigger, the dread that this might be the end more intense. While Malcolm prepared himself to face Lamia without falling for her charm, Leo and I had a dance practise. He gave me an apologetic smile before starting.

"I warn you I have two left feet. Tía Rosa always said I was a disaster. ' _Niño(1)_ , you ain't gonna get no  _chicas(2)_  with those clumsy moves.' She usually said." He confessed, and I grinned proudly.

"That's because you haven't had me as a tutor before." I said, pretty confident.

"How are we going to do it with the music?" He asked.

"I was actually hoping you could help me with that. I had a mobile phone, but the satyr who kidnapped me got rid of it. He said it attracted monsters, and I was so shocked at the moment I didn't argue. Could you like, create some sort of radio so we can tune some music?" I really hoped he'd say yes, because otherwise we had a problem. He gave me a tricky grin.

"Watch and learn. Oh, and fall harder for me while you're at it." He said, and I rolled my eyes, but I was really proud of him when he started picking up wires and stuff from his tool belt pockets, his fingers playing around with impeccable knowledge and precision. It took me more than usual to tell the part of me who wanted to ask him to forget about the wires and let his skilful fingers play along my skin to shut up. He was soon done, smiling so proud of himself as a five year old after 'successfully' drawing his mother, which looked more or less like a really colourful smiling potato. Although what Leo had built was no potato at all.

"Does it work?" I asked immediately, inexplicably excited, as if I was about to presence something miraculously wonderful.

"Of course it does." He said and I gasped when he tuned it and it started playing music.  _I Wanna Hold Your Hand_  by The Beatles was the first thing it ever tuned. I recognised it from the music you could always listen to in my dad's car.

"We need something a little more  _latino_ , silly." I told him, and he showed me his tongue while he got onto finding some radio with a more danceable selection. He stopped at some latin american signal, playing some salsa for tonight's many parties starting all around the US.

"That one" I told him. He put the artefact he'd just created on the floor and looked at me.

"So, what do I do now?" I smiled, flavouring the nervous look on his face.

"You take my hand" I began explaining, taking his left hand with my right one. "And you rest the other one on my waist." My heart was hammering against my chest like crazy and I couldn't understand why, since I had danced with a lot of guys, a lot of times. He made it different somehow, special in a way that made me over self-concious. My hair was okay, I hoped. And it was difficult to sweat in this cold. His hands were really warm, so warm, though. "Now, you take a step back, another forward... yeah, just like that" I looked at him, he looked so incredibly sweet with that childish grin in his face saying 'Huh, I'm a natural. Suck it up, Tía Rosa!' I pulled him closer then, so he would have to avoid stepping on my feet. "Now, a bit faster, without stepping on me." I instructed him.

"Does it have to be this close?" He wondered, nervous. "I feel like I'm messing up any minute." His nerves were vane, because he was doing pretty well, that ADHD finally finding something that asked enough attention of him. I laughed.

"It's for you to get used to not to step on my feet. You're doing fine by now, try to take the lead. Gods, I wish I could dance that well with two left feet." I teased. The song reached an end and another one followed immediately, a sweet merengue which made me take it a bit harder on him. He looked a bit stressed but he didn't let me down.

"Wow, you fast. Is this why you were in pretty nice shape when you reached camp?" He asked. I wasn't in good shape when I reached camp... was I?

"Uh, I guess. You have to have a bit of strength in the arms, because in competition routines there's a lot of pirouettes and you have to maintain the grip as they lift you and pull you in every direction." I told him. He stepped on me for the first time. "Ouch." I let out.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?" He was so worried, which was tender and cute.

"Yeah, I'm okay. What about a bit closer and a lot slower? So you can have more time to watch my feet." I suggested. The song we were dancing died, and what came next was a slow ballad. Very, very slow. "I think it's slow dancing time." I said, mainly joking, but he pulled me closer.

"You meant this close?" Our noses were almost touching. My arms lifted up so I was now hanging from his neck and both his hands knotted behind my low back. Movements were natural, nothing forced nor previously thought. Had he been lying when he said he didn't know how to dance? Or maybe it was my lead... but  _he_  was leading. I suddenly felt at ease, a more waltz-like pacing took hold of our dancing. I looked up at him, just to find his dark chocolate eyes melting onto mine. I was soon in another reality, a delicate and infinite world where there were just him and I, and everything was perfect. I hid my face in his neck, breathing in the smell of motor oil and shampoo. He always had that same scent, and whenever I had it near, it made me calm.

"Hey, Leo." I whispered.

"Uh-huh?" Was all his answer.

"How about we run away to a desert island and we try our luck there?"

"Seems a most wonderful idea. I like the sound of it. You, me, nothing else." He agreed, and I shivered. I wanted to know what his face looked like right then, and what I saw in his eyes struck me as most heartbreaking and most beautiful.  _Are we ever going to have time to_ be _a couple?_  Have dates, fight over meaningless stuff, make out... without having to take care of quests, nor training, nor warships.  _I don't know_ , I wanted to tell him. He leaned over me, and his lips were next to mine, without contact for at least half a minute, the wait almost as delicious as the contact itself. Our lips got together and I closed my eyes instinctively. We got apart and even though I could tell we were not moving anymore, my mind felt as if we were still dancing.

"If anything happens to us tonight... to  _any_  of us" I clarified as he got tense, thinking I was bringing the I-don't-mind-dying subject up again. "I want you to know this has been a most wonderful month, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  _Te amo(3)_ , Leo." Our foreheads were stuck together and I could easily fly away just by closing my eyes.

"I will bring you safely back to camp, and I will tell everybody to mind their own business as I lock myself up with you in your cabin for a week. But tonight, if there's anything I want you to keep in mind, Lizzie,  _es que yo también te amo(4)_." Just as the ballad turned back into a cheerful merengue, we got back to our dancing positions, although I was not less hypnotised by his intense dark eyes.

Malcolm got to where we were just then. It was time. We got ready, Leo complaining over and over about how the dancer outfit didn't suit him, even when I'd made it most simple, a common white shirt and black trousers. It did have some glitter, though. I spent at least ten minutes trying to hell him the tool belt did not match the outfit but I should have known from the beginning it was a lost battle. My dress was white with a reddish pink flower starting from between my breasts to the left side of my hips, were the short skirt moved in different directions, being conformed by various independent petals.

"It finally makes sense." Both Leo and Malcolm said, referring to my hair pin. I blushed.

"Can't I just have girly accessories without a sensible explanation behind it?" They shook their heads.  _I'm surrounded by idiots_.

 

We showed up to the front entrance, my bow and quiver hanging from my left arm. The Earthborn looked at me as if I were some unexpected and unwanted visitor.

"Hey guys, do you mind if I come in?" I asked, and as they got angry and stuff, I blew my blowpipe and the first one got hit in the middle of the eye, in a majestic bull's eye. I didn't have time to brag about my shot, cause the two remaining Earthborn were still on feet, and the one I'd shot was wounded, yet not dead. I took my bow and shot fast the wounded Earthborn. The correct arrows came to my hand from my quiver and the only thing I had to do was to ask for them. As the Earthborn fell to its feet and turned into a pile of golden dust, Malcolm was struggling with his own monster, slashing flawlessly with his sword. Leo was on fire, hammering the damn things as if it were some sort of Whac-A-Mole game. I had lost two valuable seconds because, as we'd predicted, there weren't just three of them. I got rid of three of them, but there were still another six left. I cursed under my breath, not being able to get distracted long enough to check on Leo nor Malcolm. One more got reached by one of my arrows. My breath was leaving me, and as I tried to catch it, one of them got too close. I was waiting for the inevitable hit, when somebody pushed me aside and got rid of it. Five seconds later, Malcolm was catching his breath, his sword flickering with golden dust.

"Nice timing" I told him. "Might get me falling for you" I joked.

"Nah" he answered. "Poor Valdez isn't likely to get himself another girl like you." I would've answered, or laughed, but I had to shoot some Earthborn instead. How many of them were there? Even if Leo hadn't kill any (and he'd killed several) there should be all dead by now. I didn't fear running out of arrows, since I had my magical quiver with me, but I had already lost four most majestic darts for my blowpipe. Three more down. I was exhausted. I tried to make some distance between me and one that got too close— have I already mentioned how uncomfortable is trying to kill monsters trying not to ruin your dress? Well, I was putting some distance between it and me so I could shoot, when I noticed another one had made it around us and was now coming to me from behind. I cursed and blew a dart into the first Earthborn's mouth, hoping to kill it or at least take it out of the equation with that shot, then I saw myself in short distance combat with the remaining Earthborn. Being weaponless in such reduced shooting space, I used my only possible option. I punched the damn thing. Turns out I made it wince, which made me very proud of myself, but I had fucked up. I heard the cracking first, then felt the electrifying pain running all the way up my arm to my brain. Several of my left hand bones were broken. I could no longer shoot. I let a muffled scream out of my throat before kicking the damn thing with my high heels. Good thing about being a dancer, I'd had a long training about jumping, swirling, landing and making pirouettes in high heels. I broke its nose, but one of its six hands got a hold of my right ankle. It cracked as well. A few tears fell down my cheeks, the pain incredibly numbing. I have to admit that it was a silly thought but, as I fell, all I could think of was  _Damn, my dress_. In my defence, it was a pretty important aspect of the plan. Also, it was one of the best dresses I had designed or sewed so far. But someone caught me and stopped my fall. Between my numb vision I could see dark curls and an elfish grin.

"Don't make me rescue you, Liz" he said, and he left me gently on the floor as he got rid of the Earthborn who had broken my left fist and my right fibula, if I was sensing the pain from its direct source, otherwise I had the whole articulation compromised, which was way worse. "That one was the last one. Damn, Liz, attacking it so fearlessly like that, it did make you look cool, but you should know being cool isn't everything—"

"Shut up, Valdez." I was in no mood for his jokes right now.

"Whoa, someone's moody for getting beaten up in battle." I couldn't really see where he was, but I shot a hateful look towards the direction his voice came from.

"I didn't just get beaten up. It broke several of my bones, idiot. And it hurts."

"Oh, gods, why didn't you say that from the beginning, Liz." His tone had suddenly changed to a more preoccupied one, clearly noticing my ankle was in a probable unnatural angle, and my left hand didn't look like a fist anymore. "Malcolm!" He called. "Did you have any nectar and ambrosia left?" Apparently he didn't because Leo had to repeat the question. "Shoot, Lizzie, do you have any left?"

"I think I have some, but if I use it now—"

"We run out of it, got it." He took note. "Well, we'll just have to keep ourselves alive" he said, and he helped me lie down. The pavement was cold, and I was freezing out there, now the adrenaline was leaving me, and all there was left was cold and pain. He took carefully my  _Heffalump_  backpack off of me, and started looking for the nectar and ambrosia. Soon enough, I was drinking something that tasted like my mother's special hot chocolate. It made me feel warm, like when Leo hugged me tight, or when I sat in front of a stove in the middle of winter (which was pretty much the same). I must've fallen asleep, cause when I opened my eyes, I saw the blurry face of Leo.

"Feeling better?" His voice said, and eventually, I could make out his face, the blurriness fading softly. I smiled, touched by his concern.

"You're cute when preoccupied" I said, groggily.

"She's alright" Malcolm stated.  _Hey_.

"Can you move your foot?" I tried moving it. It felt numb and a slight pain wave went through me when I did, but it was pretty much okay, so I nodded. "What about your hand?" I tried my fingers. Gods, these ones  _did_  hurt. I swallowed back the pain and put on my best poker face.

"It's wonderful." I lied. I must've sounded convincing, because Leo sighed with relief. "How long have I been resting?"

"About two hours. We still have plenty of time." Malcolm informed me and I got up in a second, my ankle screaming in pain when I did, but I had no time for being hurt.

"Two hours?! We should be done by now!" I checked around. The dust was gone by now. I looked at Malcolm. "We gotta start now."

"Lizzie, we can still come back tomorrow. Eros said it, your sister's being held as a captive because of you. It would be stupid for them to harm her before your arrival. You should rest and—" I gave Leo a hurt look.

"I can't take it anymore. My sister's in there and I'm gonna drag her out even if it's the last thing I ever get to do. If I go on any other day in this quest, it's going to drive me crazy. Much more now I know Jessie is in there with Lamia." They seemed to understand what I meant cause they nodded.

"So, you told me you had something for it to be easier to ignore Lamia." Malcolm asked me. I remembered what I had to do, and I almost threw up, as I gave him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry." I told him.

"Sorry for wha—" The arrow I had shot caught him right on the heart. Leo looked at me as if I'd lost it.

"What have you done?!" I could only half-hear him. My hand was crying from shooting that arrow.

"It was a hate arrow, he'll be back with us in a sec." And just as I had told him, Malcolm recovered from his momentary blank. He blinked and glanced at me with a feeling that stood between confusion and anger.

"What did you just—"

"Hate arrow. You won't even look at her, I promise." I said, sadly.

"Then why did you apologise?" Both, Malcolm and Leo, wondered.

"I don't like playing with people's emotions. I think it's wrong and repulsive." They lowered their sight, probably thinking I was right. "So, let's go."

We came into the building, leaving Malcolm outside. The preschool was painted all over with different kinds of pastel, soft baby colours that would've been sweet if it weren't for the kids-eating lady inside one of the classrooms. We went straight for the room in the back, knowing we'd find her there.

"Miss Lamia?" I asked as I stepped into the empty, creepy classroom. Then I saw her, my sister was sleeping peacefully under one of the tables. Thank the gods. The sliding sound caught up with me there.

"Demigod!" She shrieked.

"Exactly! From Monster Entertainment S.A." I improvised. "We're from a new company the gods have started as a way to apologise to those they have hurt throughout the eons. We entertain you and then you get to eat me! What a bargain, huh?" At least we were achieving our goal, since Lamia was so bewildered she didn't look like she wanted to kill us right away.

"Which kind of entertainment?" She asked.

"Oh, I'm glad you asked." Leo came in then, and as I saw the sections of his bare skin, I wondered whether he had stayed the two hours I'd slept by my side, under the unforgiving cold. "It's just a little dance show-off and then you're free to get rid of us in the way you find it most pleasant."

"Another demigod!" Apparently being outnumbered wasn't funny at all to her. "Why should I believe you? You're armed."  _Good point_. I had no answer for that.

"Oh, it's just for the guards. As the ones you had, there're plenty of clients with fierce guards interfering with our services. Of course, that's the company policy, and we just follow instructions. This is our first job, you know, since all demigods are supposed to die after finishing their services."  _Leo you beautiful blacksmith_ , I thought, when he'd come up with such a fast excuse. Lamia seemed to trust Leo's word more than mine. I reached for Leo's hand and held it tight, I wasn't going to lose against that damnable creature.

"Okay, amuse me. Since I'm gonna get rid of you any other way..." It was a good plan, wasn't it? Even when a couple hours ago it had seemed incredibly ridiculous.

Leo put the radio on the floor and the dance started. We'd reached the third dance, having Lamia really focused on us and my ankle hurting so much I could've screamed for two hours straight. But I couldn't. That was when I saw Malcolm sneaking undetectable through a window. I tried not to look at him, and I concentrated in Leo instead, trying not to flinch because of my broken ankle. I saw Malcolm out of the corner of my eye and he had Jessie in his arms, getting closer, and closer back to the window... and that's when all Tartarus broke loose.

"Naive half-bloods!" Lamia shrieked. "Did you really think you could trick me just like that?" She pointed at me. "I'm eating you first, you disgusting rat."

"If I'm disgusting shouldn't I make you sick? Why would you eat me?" I asked, trying to be badass, but instead I got hit by an unexpected snake tail and thrown across the classroom.  _No more broken bones_ , I pleaded. "Get outta here!" I yelled at Malcolm, who was standing there, with his eyes wide open by the surprise, not knowing what do to. He got back to his senses and jumped out the window, my sister sleeping impassible in his arms. I've heard of heavy sleepers, but this had to be a joke, cause it had reached ridiculous levels. Leo came towards me, which made me indescribably happy. He had not gotten caught up in Lamia's charm, but was instead running desperately to me, wanting to check if I was okay.

"I'm okay, you fool!" I told him. "Go get the bow and quiver, I'll fight her!" He was reluctant to leave me there, even more, his eyes shone with a firm 'Not a chance' but then I reached for my quiver and I picked a very specific arrow. I showed it to him,  _love_. Lamia could not hurt me if she wanted to take care of me instead. Leo must have understood, because he took his leave as fast as he could, knowing that, even so, I wouldn't have much time to keep Lamia restrained. She wanted to stop Leo, but I threw some pencils, I found scattered around me, at her, compelling her to pay attention to me instead.

"You, stupid Kaa!" I yelled, and just like that, I had her attention. She turned around to look at me, and the arrow left my bow, fast as the wind, piercing right through her chest. She gave me a sad look, as if she'd thought she was dead, and then her expression went blank for a couple seconds. I was getting to my feet to run away, with my aching ankle and my broken hand, sure I'd gotten rid of my biggest obstacle when the Fates proved me wrong. In the shadows, right there where you would never look, something was rising, something big and terrible. I had known this quest wasn't going to be a piece of cake, but I didn't think they would make it so  _impossible_. I tried to scream, but my lungs weren't responding. I was doomed.

* * *

**Translations:**

1\. Boy.

2\. Girls.

3\. I love you.

4\. it's that I love you too.


	17. Frostbite

Everything was going so swell I could almost believe we were going to make it through with what I could tell was the most improvised, most ridiculous and strangely smart plan ever. Coming from Affie's mind, it shouldn't surprise me. But it  _had_  to go wrong. No god, mystic force nor whatsoever could interfere and knock out Lamia for a couple minutes while we got out of there never to return again. We were on our own and our night couldn't go as planned.

So when all turned into chaos from one moment to another, I didn't realise Affie had been hit by stupid half Nagini here, until I saw her hit a wall and fall.  _You bitch_ , I thought, while running to aid my girlfriend but, as usual, she wouldn't have me caring for her. 'There are more important stuff to take care of' her face seemed to state.  _There's nothing more important to me than you_ , I wanted to tell her, but by then she had already taken the decision to send me away to retrieve the bow and quiver. Somehow, I felt as if those stupid items had only been part of a set up to bring us all here, and Gaea could get rid of my girl. It never occurred to me that, maybe, I should look out for someone else instead of Gaea. I hated all those damnable monsters and gods, trying to make our lives more difficult than they already were.

So I left, against my will, but if she got that shot right, she would be okay. And I'd never seen her fail a single shot, so now it was all on me to take the bow and quiver and go back to drag her out of there so we could turn into smoke and disappear, back to camp, where we belonged. I found Eros' magical items and I was shocked to see they were a mere piece of wood and what might have as well been a plastic cone.  _What in Tartarus are these_. If he had such cheap weapons, he could've easily replaced them instead of getting us in all the trouble of retrieving them.  _Oh, how I hate gods_. I took them and under my grip they felt incredibly heavy, as if I was carrying a really fat dude instead some pieces of junk.  _Perfect, just what I needed_. Affie was waiting for me in the other room, and I could not possibly take any longer to take her away from this place. I cursed and used some adrenaline to generate the strength to carry them. But when I entered the room where I'd left Affie, not even the Lamia could protect her from what was fighting her. The half serpent woman looked now horrible, as if her beauty had disintegrated with her wish to kill demigods. Whatever it was that was trying to smash Affie with its tail, it was  _huge_. The shadows shifted around the monster and I could finally realise it was some sort of reptile that was attacking both Affie and Lamia. At least, she was on her feet again, shooting arrows as if her life depended on it... and it sort of did. I locked eyes with her in a moment of sudden silence, the world stopping for her to yell at me.

"BURN THIS PLACE DOWN!" She said, desperate, and I could tell she was nuts. I could not burn the place down, she was still inside it. She must've seen the confusion in my face, because she gave me a confident smile. "I'll be okay, Valdez. Trust me, you cannot burn me." What did she... suddenly a lot of things made sense, and my brain started working very fast. If I could bring myself to burn the whole building, we could both walk away. The voice from my dream echoed in the back of my mind.  _She was made for you_. She was still running around trying to avoid get Whac-A-Mole'd and when she saw I still hadn't left, she gave me a look of exasperation. She found a opening to get closer to where I was, and she took it. She would've been dead if not for Lamia, who took the turn to distract what I was beginning to recognise as a hydra. One of the hydra's heads spit acid to Affie, but Lamia took the hit, howling in pain as her arm disintegrated.

"Hand me the bow." She asked me. I was about to tell her it weighted a ton, when she touched it and it shifted. It became lighter and more beautiful, with delicate carvings and detailed terminations.  _What_. She took it and gave me a brief kiss. I wanted to take her with me, but she wouldn't let me.

"I'll distract him. Get out and set the place on fire. I'll be out in no time." I saw Lamia doing a pretty good job as a diversion, and I looked back at Affie and I cursed when I identified the emotion that filled her expression. It was pity. She was taking pity on Lamia for it being forced to risk her life to protect Affie. Probably also because Lamia was a daughter of Hecate, just as her best friend, Lou.  _Unbelievable_. I wanted to talk some sense into her, but there was no time. If Lamia died in battle, Affie might get the crazy idea of not leaving until she got rid of the hydra, which none of us was in position of defeating.

"Okay, I'll see you out." I ran out, unable to shake out of me the feeling that I should've stayed and fight alongside her, or else leave with her. Never leave her behind. Without Eros' stupid bow and quiver running was no difficult task. Nor it was to set the whole place in fire as I got out of there. In no time, the building was burning. The flames leaped but they did not harm me, and I wondered whether Affie had been right with her theory. We'd taken a crazy chance by letting the flames take the building while she was still in it. Malcolm was waiting for us outside. He no longer had Jessie in his arms, but I supposed he must've left her near the motorcycles, further from danger. The exact way Affie would've preferred it. After all, the motorcycles were supposed to hide us from Gaea.

"Where's Af?" He asked, and I wanted to know the same, as I witnessed everything in there turn bright orange, illuminating the dark cold night with its brightness.

"She's inside. She's got the bow, said she would be out in a sec. She wants to make sure Lamia flees before the flames get to her." Malcolm looked confused, but soon enough he'd done the math, and had a preoccupied expression instead. I started tapping on my legs nervously, unable to stand and stare. I had to do something. The morse code on my pants, was  _I love you_ , and I stopped, embarrassed. I sometimes forgot no one else could understand morse code.  _No one but Affie_.

"I'm going back inside" I stated, and before Malcolm could protest I was inside the preschool, the whole building structure starting to fall apart as the fire started consuming it. The walls, made of concrete, stood unharmed, yet the ceiling and the furniture were having a rough time. The smoke was suffocating, taking all the oxygen with it. What had I done. Maybe the flames wouldn't harm her, but the smoke was unbreathable, and she was somewhere in here, in the middle of this burning chaos.

"Lizzie!" I shout out, hoping she would hear me. In the middle of flames and smoke I could see so little, even when neither the smoke nor the fire bothered me, it was difficult to make my way through such a mess. I tried to find the classroom by memory, and gladly I found her midway. "Oh my gods, Liz, thanks Hephaestus you're okay, I was so worried.  _Never_  make me leave you behind like that ever again." I told her. She smiled.

"I told you everything would go alright." She said with a most confident smile, and only when I took her face between my hands and saw her surprised eyes before I kissed her, my brain could believe I had her right there with me, and now I could protect her and make sure she was okay. When we got apart, she coughed. "I think we should get out of here." She stated and I nodded. She was soon going to be suffocated by the fire. But she was with me, and I wouldn't let the fire harm her.

As we started walking, I noticed something was wrong. Affie winced everytime she took a step and she was coughing more than she should. I shouldn't have left her battling, her ankles and her left hand weren't okay yet. It must've been painful for her to shoot at the hydra. That creature was like nothing I'd ever seen. It wasn't like what I'd imagined, not at all. It was bigger and scarier, and I couldn't tell if it was just a huge scary monster or a personal nightmare came from Tartarus to torture her. I didn't really want to know either, if Gaea had swallowed it and taken it to another place, I was sure as Hades I didn't want to meet it again.

"Liz, you okay?" She nodded, and she smiled, but her hand in mine was weak and numb. We were almost out now, I could almost see the front door, and Malcolm waiting for us outside. We'd made it. Those stupid prophecies did not mean death, thank the gods. That's why I couldn't quite understand what I saw as we stepped outside. My mind couldn't process the image my eyes were seeing. She was bleeding from her stomach, and her coughing was never just a reflex for running out of oxygen. It was because of the wound she was hiding with a hand and camouflaging with the skirt of her dress.  _No, no, no_. Something was wrong. This was definitely her, making dark, too-soon jokes. It was just her, trying to make me worry so she could stand all confidently and gorgeous and flawless and tell me not to be so credulous. That I'm cute when worried, something like that. But when her grip on my hand loosened and she fell to her knees... when Malcolm face reflected the panic my trembling heart felt, I understood this was no joke, no pretence.

I fell to my knees next to her, offering my lap to her to rest her head, unable to fully believe this was happening. It could not be real. I had some ambrosia left somewhere, this had a cure of some sort. Malcolm was speechless, and I wondered why wouldn't he help her, why wouldn't he try to aid her, help me get her better, get her back on her feet again.

"Liz, what...?" I could barely speak, because she hadn't seemed so bad inside, but maybe it was the blurriness the smoke created in my sight... no. She was definitely okay in there, when I kissed her and promised to myself never to let her wander away from me again.

"I'm sorry, Leo." She said, and under the flickering light of the burning preschool I could see her dirty face, dirty with ashes and smoke, and over her cheeks, blushed with the lack of oxygen and the rushed blood, tears were flowing. "I tried to get out of there sooner. But I guess you should never make a goddess angry. Some debris from the ceiling fell, and it got to me... it might've been better to wait there, but I didn't want to make you anxious, I tried to get out as fast as I could, since I had the bow and everything. So I... moved the piece of ceiling off of me, and I stood up the best I could and made my way out. I was so happy to see you, Leo. For a second there, I thought I would die suffocated, unable to see you once again." I shook my head. This wasn't true, it wasn't true.

"No, you're going to be okay Liz." My hands found hers, and I panicked when I noticed she was colder than she had ever been. "You're going to be okay. We'll take you back to camp, the guys from the Apollo cabin will heal you. You're going to go to sword fighting class even when I ask you not to, and you're going to paint breathtaking paintings in Arts & Crafts. You're gonna get mad but then not so mad when I sneak into your cabin and you're gonna tell me every single day I have elfish looks and that you think it's creepy when I watch you sleep. Every single morning you'll curse and I'll be there to tell you what a filthy mouth you have. You'll be okay." She gifted me a sad smile.

"I'm not so sure, Leo..." she sounded so sure of her fate, as if she'd seen it already happen. Then I remembered that she'd told me Anteros had shown her the possible futures she had. I remembered Eros telling her that if she saved everybody she might lose her life in exchange.

"Don't you dare die on me. You  _promised_. You told me we would figure out  _another_  way." I reminded her. She began sobbing.

"I'm so, so sorry Leo. I know I did but, tell me, is there another way?"  _Yes there is_. There always are other ways, there had to be.

"Don't leave me, Lizzie. If you leave me I'm gonna be alone again. Alone and homeless. I won't be able to bear it Liz, not another one I love dying on me. Not fire taking another one I love away from me." She couldn't just die, could she? People like Affie were not supposed to die. They were unique and precious. They were good people, they cared for everyone, they were empathic and helpful, they simply could not die. I brushed her messy hair off her face, soft even now. I kissed her forehead over and over, maybe a billion times.

"It is not your fault. It is mine. Not Aphrodite's, nor Gaea's, nor Hera's, nor the Erotes'. I chose this." Her breathing was so weak, her voice a soft whisper dissolving in the air. People like Affie could not die.

"How could you choose this?" I had to ask.

"Because," she smiled, painless, only with infinite joy and love in her eyes. " _Te amo*_ , Leo Valdez. Anything I can do, I'll do it to keep you safe." Her weak touch had reached my cheek, brushing it and my hair, playing with some of my locks groggily. "I'm more than happy to die for you. I'm selfish though. I didn't want to spare you the pain of having this conversation by dying in there. I had to get out and see you again." She was so stupid, so stupid. I had told her not to save me, I was no hero in distress, she didn't have to go offering her life to protect me. "Besides, I like being the hero, you know. Save the day, get the girl." She winced when she tried to laugh. Jokes like that are not funny if she can't laugh at the end.  _Dammit, Liz_.

"You are so stubborn, Liz. I told you not to give up your life for me." People like Affie could not die.

"I guess obedience is not one of my treats." She tried to chuckle, but she started coughing again. I stared helplessly not knowing what to do to help her.  _Somebody, anybody, please help_.

"Then I'm forbidding you to stay alive." I told her. People like Affie could not die.

"I think this will be the first time I'll do what you ask me to." The stupid radio I had built when everything was okay, when I could've still dragged her away and kept her safe, was still working somewhere in the distance, it had evidently changed station though. "Oh, I know this one." Affie said. "My mother liked it a lot, and my dad told me what it meant. I remember thinking how wonderful it would be to found someone to sing it to. My mother didn't know the lyrics, but she would hum it." She talked as if it was a sunny Sunday afternoon, and we had nothing else to do. " _You ain't seen nothing like me yet_." She sang, a little out of tune, tears running down her cheeks. " _I could make you happy, make your dreams come true. Nothing that I wouldn't do. Go to the ends of the Earth for you, to make you feel my love_." When she was done, the radio had long gone silent, as if it had been waiting for her to start singing to burst in flames.  _Hephaestus help me, help her. Don't let her go away_. People like Affie couldn't die. But Olympus was closed, and all the gods that had appeared to us during the last month were just the ones plotting this very moment.

"You sing a bit out of tune. And I didn't know you had learnt english" I told her, as if there was nothing more important to say.

"It's funny. The only person who has ever told me I sing out of tune, is you." She gave me a playful grin. "You  _are_  mean. And I didn't learn, matter-of-factly. I learned the lyrics somehow."

"As long as you stay with me I can be mean, kind, whatever you want. But don't leave me."

"I'm sorry" she apologised, once again, and I didn't understand why was she apologising again, tearing up even more. "I'm making sure not to let you carry the sad memory with you. Listen to me. You have to understand you have to move on. You're going to love again, your heart is gonna flutter for some other girl, as it does when you're with me, and you have to let it happen. You can not restrain yourself to my memory. That's why I'm freeing you, so I can make sure you're not going to do anything stupid once I'm gone." Before I could understand, she was thrusting me with something that hurt a lot more than a normal weapon would. If she wanted to kill me, I didn't mind. But this was no killing, this was even worse. She kissed me, and her lips tasted bittersweet to me, unlike they've ever tasted. They were always the sweetest, the most addictive.

"I give you oblivion, Leo. If you never met me, you can never feel abandoned. But I will never leave you.  _Estaré siempre contigo, porque aunque me olvides, siempre me habrás amado alguna vez, y yo siempre te amaré**_." She hugged me, her tears flowing down my cheeks, the arrow across my chest going through hers as well. It was double pointed, I somehow noticed. The words she'd shoot at me floated in the air, as they made the long distance bull's eye they had aimed for.  _You won't even care you ever loved me_.

"You didn't do this, Liz. Please tell me this is some normal arrow, that I'll remember. That you'll get better, that we'll be together.  _Please_  tell me." But she was motionless in my arms, her eyes closed as if she'd gone to sleep, her chest still, not letting air in nor out.

People like Affie couldn't die. I felt my cheeks wet with my own tears, as if it wasn't me who was there with Affie's body between my arms. I felt Malcolm's hand on my shoulder, and everything went blurry.  _Wake up_ , I told my self.  _Wake up, Valdez. You're having those stupid nightmares again_. It took me a while to understand it was no bad dream. I hugged tighter Affie's lifeless corpse, unable to think of anything that wasn't her, and how cold she was. Colder than Khione's snow. Colder than I never knew before. It was so cold it burnt, and it hurt, and I realised what fire must've hurt if it  _could_  hurt me. It hurt so badly no tears, nor no scream could let out how much pain and grief were inside me. Ii felt Malcolm's silent sobbing in the distance, his grip tighter on my shoulder. The burning preschool was now starting to burn slower, like knowing her soul was gone.

People like Affie couldn't die. But once in a while, against all odds, they did. Affie couldn't die, but she did.

* * *

**Translations:**

*I love you.

**I will always be with you, because even if you forget me, you will have always loved me, and I will always love you.


	18. To sacrifice Elysium

I knew what I'd promised. And I knew that what I was about to do would take away all my promises. I wanted him to remember, as I'd carry forever his mark, no matter dead or alive. But I could not risk it. The Erotes had shown me a lot, from the past, from the future. As much as I disliked Hera's plan, one thing was certain: Leo had a bigger destiny to fulfil and my bitter memory could become an impediment. He would never trust some gods again, gods he needed to listen to, if he was to survive the tasks ahead of him. They both wanted me dead, Gaea and Hera. But at least Hera did not want Leo suffering from it, not that I preferred her anyways. But I had to give up my pride, as  _Yperífanos_  had shattered. Looking at him like this was even more painful than all of my broken body. I didn't want him to forget everything what we'd been, everything we'd done. I wanted to relive forever those most magnificent memories, of our fingers interlaced, of his lips on my chest. But all of it had to be gone and it pained me as I understood the use for the last arrow, the one I'd picked almost as if for obligation. I did not know how much would it take from him, nor how did it exactly work, but our time together would have to live only in the days that had already passed. An unwritten diary that would live forever in the past.

My instincts kicked in as I picked my arrow, distracting him with a talk that would make him focus on my words. He begged me to remember, but it was already too late. There was nothing left to do. The arrow was all the way into his chest and the face of pain he made let me know there was no going back. I would remember him. Even in the Fields of Asphodel his memory would haunt me and mortify me. Because the ghost of his bronze skin and gentle kisses would never leave me, nor the trace his hands drew along my skin. The gifts he gave me, the time he held me, the jokes he told me, all of it would stay forever with me as it wouldn't with him. That one was my punishment for what I was doing. I would spare him the suffering, but I would have to carry forever the memories with me, I would always remember what I'd done, and I would let the painful past scar me over and over. But I preferred to remember.

Then I saw it. The arrow was double pointed.  _Wound yourself_ , a soft voice whispered in my mind.  _No_ , I thought. It was punishment enough having him forget me, for having to forget him as well. Hadn't I given up enough? His memory was all I had left, the only consolation for all my sadness. I would never see my mother again, nor my sister, nor my dad. I would never go visit them with Leo and they would never get to make jokes about how we should keep it quiet at night. I was never going to study at uni, nor get a degree, nor work. It was going to be difficult, being a demigod, but now all of it was gone. I wouldn't marry nor have kids. I wouldn't grow old with the one I loved. I had lost many Christmases and New Years. I had given up a lifetime and keeping a month of memories seemed a good pay. But they were taking that away from me as well. If they took Leo, they took all I was as well. I kissed him, the very last kiss, one salty kiss, full of tears.  _I have to remember_ , what's eternity if I can't torture myself with the sweet memory of my foolish boy? The arrow wounded deep into me. Suddenly all my pain left me. Leo's arms were around me, and so was his smell, that familiar scent of motor oil and shampoo. I closed my eyes, and I let go, the preschool burning like it was trying to become one of the stars in the sky, looking pitifully at us. The last thing I saw, was the face of a incredibly beautiful man, looking down on me, whispering that now everything was going to be okay. I believed him.

The Underworld was a pain in the ass. The waiting room was full, and Charon in the counter did not seem amused at all by the amount of people there. I walked up to his counter.

"I'm very much dead, I would like to move on to my eternal non existence." I told him. Then I thought it better. "Nice suit." I said.

"Well, you've saved me the introductory talk. I'll give you that." He yawned. "But I'm not taking people to the Underworld just yet." He excused.

"You are taking me there now, cause I've already given up enough." And just as I said it, I noticed I remembered. I still had my memories with me. Tears of joy and sadness began flowing down my cheeks.  _I remembered_.

"Whoa, don't cry." He said, all of a sudden. "May I know your name?"

"Áfua Williams. Born in Ushuaia, Argentina. Died in Baltimore, USA, two days before Christmas." He must've taken pity on me or something, because when he lifted his gaze to look at me, he gave me a completely different look.

"Miss... Williams." He said my name as if he was flavouring it. "Yes, you've got an appointment." I blinked.

"I'm sorry? An appointment with who?" I asked.

"Who? With Thanatos, of course." An appointment with death? You had to be kidding me. It was subtly ironic and a way too-soon joke, but I guessed I wasn't in the best position to argue. Also, shouldn't I stay in line, waiting for a trial or something, where they would decide whether to give me eternal punishment or not?

"Oh, right." I answered, though. Like if I'd known which issues would have Death to discuss with me. I hope he wasn't going to ask for some kind of foreigner's fee for entering the Underworld, because that'd be an abuse. I'd died. I noticed I was shaky and I was still crying, and it struck me as weird the fact I felt as corporeal as ever. Death was a strange thing. I had imagined I would be some sort of misty ghost or something, but no. I wondered if the tears would ever stop.

Charon walked me to a ferry, where he helped me onboard and we sailed along the Styx. It was no pleasure trip and everything there was dark and depressing. Seriously, Hades could definitely use a extreme makeover for the place. We arrived to some sort of airport customs where people lined up between three gates. I saw how two of them were advancing pretty slow, taking them forever to reach the front of the queue. Charon walked before me and got me through one the eternal lines, getting me some annoyed looks from the souls in row. The Tribunal Charon led me to, was empty, but for one man. He was infinitely beautiful, and I recognised his face from the moment of my death. I could not believe he was there, and now he was here. Who was this man? Everytime my eyes recognised him as handsome, my neurones screamed the name of Leo, and my heart ached. I wanted to cry, but I was already crying, and I felt helpless. The man spoke, his voice as charming and soft as I remembered it.

"Áfua Williams." He called me. "I'm Thanatos, personification of death. I'm here to hold your trial." I gasped. Thanatos wasn't supposed to hold any trials. He was meant to send the souls to the Underworld and keep them from running away from it. "I understand your confusion, but you are a, uhm... special case." He explained.

"Why?"

"There can be murder, suicide or natural death. They all usually happen in the time the one involved is meant to die. But as some few deaths, Áfua, yours happened before time." I was in shock. Was he telling me I'd had more time to live? Was he telling me somebody had taken me away before my time?

"But why? Isn't it bad to mess with the Fates?" I asked, bewildered.

"Of course it is, but with bigger destinies. You avoided the death of a bigger destiny. You gave up your own life for keeping that destiny safe, and you were supposed to enjoy the fruits of your sacrifices. But I believe you made a couple enemies while alive." I looked down. I was furious now. I could not believe the gods. So what, I did not have a great prophecy to fulfil, nor a marvellous destiny to complete, but that did not give them the faculty to end my life before its time. They clearly saw I gave a shit about what they wanted to happen, and I liked to take my own decisions, think for myself. How was that so terribly wrong they had to kill me? Was it a minute or a lifetime, I had my right to live what I had left and they'd taken it away from me. They'd taken me away from Leo.

"So what now? Do I just die?" I yelled, shaking by the anger.

"Well, you normally would. Fields of Asphodel would be awaiting you. But some people have spoken up for you." I saw ghostly figures in the room, glimpses of their statements in my favour. I saw Hera first, a far echo of her voice.

"She followed my plan without hesitation, it'd be good for her to receive a prize in return. The Fields of-" she was interrupted by the ghostly figure of Himeros.

"She is a very courageous lady. Tried to save me some grief, you know." My heart felt heavy at his statement. I hoped he did not resent me. The next figure I couldn't listen but she was a beautiful woman, who I could not recognise. She was fairly gorgeous, with a soft touch to her every gesture, and very graceful ways of doing everything.

"They've spoken highly of you. One of them made an offer. Áfua, you have two options. The Court of the Underworld has found you worthy of the Fields of Elysium. But Psyche, lady of butterflies, made you the following proposition: your soul will be accepted by her and you will turn into a butterfly. You will remember, and you will live what you had left to live. Of course, accepting her offering would be unnatural, and by the time of your death, the sentence of The Court will have changed." I could go back. I understood the beautiful lady who had stood up for me had been Psyche, my stepmother.

"What do I risk?" I could go back.

"The Fields of Punishment." His words fell like daggers through me, but it didn't matter. I could go back. I could see Leo again.  _I could go back_.

"I take Pysche's offering." I said. I did not want to rush into judging her too lightly, but I had the feeling she was nothing like my father. She had to be better than him if she had given me the chance of seeing Leo again.

"So be it" Thanatos said, and I fell asleep. Or it felt like it.

When I woke up, Psyche was in front of me, and I felt so light and free, nothing like the dead weight I'd been carrying in the Underworld. We were in a sunny room, a place of endless summer and mild warmth. Flowers grew everywhere and Psyche's dress was dancing with the summer breeze. I tried to say something, but I couldn't. I suddenly came to the realisation I no longer had a human form. You will never believe how strange it was to have six extremities and a pair of wings. But the wings were magnificent. Flying was the most wonderful sensation I'd ever felt, but for being with Leo by ourselves.

His memory was slightly painful, but it was sweetened by the hope of seeing him again. Psyche smiled, she had a most sweet face, and somehow reminded me of my mother, even when she looked nothing like her. She had the same incredibly affable smile.

"Affie, sweetie, don't bat your wings so fast, you might hurt yourself." She said. Her voice seemed to be soft, but it echoed as if she'd been a giant. At first I'd thought she was in her extra-big size or something, but then I noticed  _I_  was the little one. "You'll be back there in a sec. I have to explain you some things. My brother in law explained to me how do oblivion arrows work, since my stubborn husband wouldn't tell me." She spoke of Eros as if he was the most gracious creature on Earth, and the light in her eyes was pure love. Pure, blind love. "By wounding Leo with it, you made him forget he ever met you. And by wounding yourself with the other end, you made everyone you love forget you had ever existed. None of them will remember, but none of them will suffer either. They might not forget instantaneously, the memory will fade gradually, sometimes faster, sometimes slower. What you have to understand is that you won't go back to live with them. You'll go back to watch them." She sounded almost sorry, like she lamented she couldn't offer me something better. But I was going to see Leo again, so nothing else mattered. As long as I could stay by his side and keep one of all the promises I'd made, it was enough for me. "Back there is cold, and it is near dawn. You will find it difficult to fly, since most most butterflies migrate to warmer lands during winter. You will become a strange happenstance and you will have to look out for yourself. I have offered you another chance to live what you've left of life, but if you're not careful, someone might kill you before time. People might feel frightened or disgusted by you now you are, nevertheless, an insect. Be careful. Now you are one of my children, and your death would be most deplorable for me."

As she said so, she began dissolving, so the room, and so the warmth. I was now floating in the cold, frozen air, my wings fluttering awkwardly in this unsuitable environment. Then I saw them. The preschool was now a dying flame, the dawn lights creating scary shadows along the scene. Leo was down there, holding a broken girl between his arms, Malcolm with a hand over his shoulder. The déjà vu filled me immediately. This was my dream from a couple nights ago. The night before we got on the quest. I understood, heartbroken, that what had happened until now had been meant to be. All the pain, the sorrow we'd been through, it was always supposed to be like this. If butterflies could cry, I'd be crying. A little girl I hadn't noticed until then, also present in my dreams, was standing impassible nearby. She was distanced from the grieving group, her eyes red, her cheeks wet. She looked like she'd been crying helplessly, and was now confused, as if she'd suddenly noticed she didn't know what was she crying about. As I got closer, with many difficulties during the descend, I could make out their voices. Leo's sounded shocked.

"Malcolm... what am I doing here?" He asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"We were retrieving Eros' bow and quiver, and you took out a little girl we found captive by Lamia. After that... everything is blurry." He looked down to the broken girl he had in his arms. My corpse. "Who is she? Do we know her? I feel like I've seen her before, somewhere..."

"She..." Malcolm faltered. I was surprised to see he was crying. He had stood sad but tearless all that time, but his eyes were now full of tears, yet only few of them were allowed to come out. "She was some girl that got caught in the fire. Someone from the neighbourhood. She had the bow and the quiver with her when you went in. You tried to save her, but it was too late. She must've breathed too much smoke, and some debris must have hit you. That's why you might not remember." Malcolm's story was sensible and believable. I wanted Leo to remember but I knew it was impossible.

"So what now?" Leo asked.

"We go back. Take the bow and the quiver, and then we leave." Malcolm said.

"What about the little girl?" He wondered, while trying to take Eros' weapon. "Dude these weight like a ton." Lleo complained, but he still lifted them.

"We take her back to camp." I tried to get closer, so I could rest on one of their shoulders back to camp or something, but flying with that cold wasn't easy and I miscalculated. I ended up on my sister's shirt. She screamed.

"Take it off of me, take it off of me!" She cried, new tears coming to her eyes, and I saw with endless horror how my beautiful sister now feared me. I should've remembered she was scared of butterflies. Leo got up and walked to her, ready to finish me with a clap.

"Wait!" Malcolm said, coming forward.

"What?" Leo lifted his hands, with exasperation. Clearly, little girls crying in terror were not his favourite thing to deal with. He seemed truly preoccupied for Jessie, which made my heart feel heavy. "It's just a butterfly."  _Oh Leo, if you knew_. His comment hurt me somehow, even when I told myself I was a mere spectator, and I'd have to endure many things that were going to be hurtful.

"Yeah, and butterflies are the children of Psyche. They carry good news, luck or tiny messages from the goddess." Leo's face was skeptical, yet he took me gently in his hand. He was so  _warm_. I batted my wings as I felt them catching up to Leo's warmth.

"Hey, this one is a  _very_  cold butterfly." He noted. "Strange it is here. Thought they migrated during winter. Whatever message it's carrying, it must be truly important."

"It seems to like you." It was weird to be referred at as 'it'. I batted my wings in discomfort, as I walked up Leo's arm. I was worried he would wave me away, but he didn't.

"Of course she likes me. She must be a very smart butterfly." He grinned cockily.

"You sure it is a she?" Malcolm asked. "It could be a he, you know."

"It is a she, I tell you. Ladies die for me."  _And oh, we do_. 'I died for you', I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen my inexistent butterfly voice.

"So, Valdez has a new pet. Let's go back to camp. We have to retrieve the bow and the quiver. And I believe we should take the girl with us. Have Chiron tell us where is she from and take care of her. Maybe she's a demigod." Leo nodded, and he got onto his motorbike with Jessie, who seemed clearly troubled by me on Leo's shoulder.

"Hey, take her, would you?" He told Malcolm, handing me over. "I get the feeling this girl would be much less frightened if she's far from the butterfly." Malcolm nodded, and as Leo calmed my sister down, Malcolm walked to my corpse and took my Heffalump backpack and my weapons.  _Well done, smart boy_. At least now I knew they wouldn't be lost. Malcolm got onto his motorbike and drove away, and so did Leo. As the morning light fell upon his bronze skin, he sighed. "I keep feeling I forgot something important." He told himself and I wanted to cry again.  _Yeah, you forgot_   _me_.


	19. Epilogue

Last night had been a pretty strange one. That's why I had to believe today was going to turn out as a normal day. It was the second night on the quest with Leo and Affie, and when I saw Leo coming up to where Af and I were talking, I felt a bit uncomfortable. I could still not believe I hadn't noticed until we were leaving that I was going to be third wheel. How useful can it be to be Wisdom's sons if you're not clever enough to figure out social relationships, seriously. Even so, Af had known how to make things easier for me since the very beginning. She was very nice, sweet and smooth; I had learnt to appreciate her as a little sister. The kind of girl you can simply adore because there's no way you can control her. When Leo'd dozed off that first morning, in the van, she was the one to begin the conversation.

"So... I know he made it awkward for you this morning. I'm sorry for that. I guess we'll be spending a lot of quality time now on. I don't know how to bond, though. Uh, what about I tell you a secret, and so do you." She was nice and her thoughts ran fast. She'd been like that while planning for the quest the previous afternoon, but it was difficult getting used to her, in the way she made it so easy for one to think she was attractive. Of course, I hadn't fallen for her, that would be unwise and self-torture; but I could understand why every guy at camp liked her. I could understand why Leo dated her, and I could understand why a good fraction of the girls from the Aphrodite cabin envied her. She didn't wait for me to say if I was in for it or not, she just went for it. "So, uhm, a secret. Okay. When I was walking with Rachel, she told me two prophecies. One of them applied to me only, so she said I could keep it to myself if I wanted to. I will now share it with you. It went like this:

_Love by duty got a girl,_

_pretty and lonely like the sun itself._

_She has an unwritten path to walk,_

_one nobody can speak of:_

_a decision in a time of death_

_which life won't gift her in the end._

It sounded like a poem. I don't know what it means, but I guess it doesn't matter. It'll solve itself, it's a prophecy, so I guess it'll happen, the sooner or later." I could barely believe her. She seemed unworried for that prophecy at all, like she would rather forget it, when my mind instead was racing already trying to get some answers. I guessed she cared less for herself than she did for her sister, or the quest, so maybe it didn't matter what the prophecy meant, she had to act in order to fulfil her mission. "No matter what that prophecy means, promise me something, Malcolm." She sounded dead serious.

"Uh, weren't we trying to bond or something a moment ago?" I asked, confused.

"Oh, yeah, we still are. What better than a promise to settle trust?" Her words swirled around me in a confusing way. I knew for a fact that Affie did not have charmspeak, but the way she chose her words made it look like sometimes she could. I nodded. "Promise me, that whatever happens, you'll stop Leo from saving me. You'll keep him safe. If I have to die, I'll go down alone." She was making an order, not asking for any suggestions, nor any excuses. I fell silent. I could not promise anything like that. Then again, Leo was, tactically speaking, more meaningful than she was to the camp. If she died, it would be sad, and spirit-crushing. But if Leo died, we had worse problems. For once, he was the mastermind behind the Argo II. He could not simply not come back from the quest.

"Okay" I agreed.

"Perfect." She smiled gently, her eyes glittering with relief. I felt as if somehow I had stepped into something much meaningful and deep than just a promise to keep a demigod alive. Yet Affie's relief was enough to make anyone content. "Now tell me something."

"I, uh... don't know what to say. Any suggestions?" I did not what she considered a secret worth telling. Whether I did or did not sneak into the kitchen between meals to get a snack? The geeky fact that throughout my life I'd read one thousand three hundred sixty seven books and I kept thinking it wasn't enough? Nah, I would let her decide what was interesting to know.

"What about you tell me who's that girl that haunts your sleep? I've seen you daydreaming a couple times, but I cannot figure out who she is." She sounded so much like a daughter of Aphrodite it gave me the chills. I also could feel I had blushed completely.

"Why would you care?" It turned out more rudely than I meant to say it, but it was already out.

"Oh don't get me wrong, I don't intend to give you gooey relationship advice. I intend to tell you to go, tell her you like her and ask her out. She won't wait for you to kiss her forever, you know." And that's how I understood she was both better and worse than the girls from the Aphrodite cabin. It made me somehow respect her a bit more.

"You know who she is, don't you, Affie?" Lou's image danced in the back of my mind, as I stared at my feet, trying to avoid her inquisitive eyes.

"Call me Af. And all I can say is that she is a most lucky girl." My neck was beginning to hurt from looking to the back seats, so I shifted position to a more comfortable one.

"May I ask the question all guys at camp make theories about?"

"Go ahead." She said with a corky smile, as if she already knew what was I about to ask.

"Why Valdez?" I said, pointing to him, who was no longer resting of Af's shoulder but had now his head on her lap. He seemed so peaceful, like a baby. Not like a really big thing, not the kind of guy that would be your first guess to the 'Who'll be Williams' boyfriend?' question. Then again, now that they were together, it was difficult to understand but somehow made sense. They fitted together, like a very photogenic, meant-to-be couple.

"Because" she began, gifting the sleeping Leo some soft caress along his face, "he was the first guy I'd ever met who would look me in the eye from the very first encounter, and would treat me as both infuriating, insufferable, annoying and nice and charming; instead of some very delicious piece of meat." It took me by surprise, but now she mentioned it, the first time I'd seen Affie, I could not meet her eyes. I had the strange sensation she could see too much of me with her pinkish red gaze.

We fell silent, but I did feel less awkward after that. And little by little, I began to understand them better. Leo was funny and childish, but because he hid some dark aspect of himself. The only times I would see him being himself were when I caught him sweet talking to Af, or when he was trying to protect her from anything. Like when he got super jealous because his girlfriend was a total knockout and her costume matched mine and not his. That night I had caught him singing  _You're The One That I Want extremely_  passionately while trying to stay awake to keep watch. He had been clearly embarrassed, but he shrugged and kept whistling it instead.

"Grease?" I asked.

"Hey, John Travolta did a good job in that one." He justified himself, and I chuckled softly before going back to sleep. I sometimes felt as a mere spectator, as a special guest, who gets to watch the story and live it. Just to be able to tell it accurately afterwards. Thing is I could not decide yet if it were to have a happy or a tragic ending. When we got abducted to that freaky cave he was so worried about Af, I wished it'd been her and not me who had gotten dragged along with him into the cave. On the other hand, though, she'd had probabilities of being better than me, who had several broken ribs back then.

But even when I'd understood the way they were a nice couple and everything, it was still weird to know he was coming to her room at night. So when I first heard a scream that night, I'd wished to myself they could please,  _please_ , keep it quiet. Then the yelling went on, and I suddenly understood if was a fight, not some other kind of 'struggle'. When I saw them that morning, I could sense the accumulated tension, even when they seemed to be trying to keep it cool.

If you'd ever asked me what did I think of them, sincerely, I would've said they never deserved what they got. Af was not the kind of person who was supposed to die, nor was Leo the kind of guy you would choose to make him endure that kind of situation. It was simply way too cruel for both of them. So when I first opened my eyes that very morning, I never thought the next one would begin having me cry over them. Ignorance is bliss, they say, and seeing Leo change from being completely devastated and broken to confused and lively again, I finally understood it. It may sound unwise, but I think it's the wisest thing, the less you know, the less you suffer.

On our way back, Leo tried to make some chat, which was probably because he still felt confused.

"So, Malcolm, what about the girl Eros mentioned to you?" He smirked. "Are you going to ask her out when we get back?" Lou's image came back to mind right then, and it shattered almost immediately. I let a sad smile out.

"I don't think so, Leo." I admitted.

"Why? Eros said you might have a chance. Gods know I would like to have a chance with-" for a moment I thought he'd remembered, but he cut and corrected himself immediately. "With any girl. Seriously, I'm not a complex guy, I don't ask for much."  _Yet you did choose to chase after the most wanted girl at camp_ , I thought.

"I think my shot slipped away. I don't believe she'll want me anymore." Leo frowned.

"Why?"

"Because I let something happen to her friend, and I don't think she'll forgive me." He winced.

"Girls sure are strange. You offend one of them, and suddenly all her friends hate you as well."  _Yeah, offend_.

When we got back to camp, I had to give the statement of what had really happened on the quest to Chiron. I asked why did Leo and Jessie had already forgotten Af, and I could still remember her. He told me people who could not cope with the pain would forget faster, as oblivion would be the easiest escape for their minds, since now that option existed. Eros was given back his bow and quiver, and Affie's parents came to pick up Jessie. When they got the news of what had happened to Affie, they bursted into tears. Mrs. Williams was specially hard to watch, but as her sorrow got bigger, so did the oblivion and, soon enough, she and all her family left with their  _only_  daughter. Mr. Williams bought some strawberries before leaving, and when I met his eyes, his gaze had a destroyed end, as if he knew what he'd lost, and he knew I was there and I did nothing about it.

Leo got back to his duties for the newest Great Prophecy, as if nothing happened. He would still get anxiety episodes, probably because now and then he'd get the feeling he'd forgotten the feeling he'd forgotten something important, but could not figure out what. He would come up to me sometimes, asking about the events on our quest, his goggles or a scale motorbike. He'd messed up several times in the construction of the Argo II because of that, and had delayed the ship construction a couple of days. Annabeth was going crazy about it, but she took it easy on him, after I told her what had happened, knowing she would eventually forget, as well. As for me, it was difficult to see how everybody forgot her and I couldn't wipe her memory off my mind. I got to talk to everybody into not telling nor asking Leo about her, but sooner than later, everybody in camp had forgotten her. Lou hadn't, though, and dealing with her pained and accusing expression was somedays enough to make my day suck as much as it possibly could.

Lou and I were assigned the duty of emptying her cabin and making it look as if she'd never been at camp, since we were the only ones who remembered. The quality time only made the gap between us wider. Sometimes, Affie's ghost haunted me, and I would wish to forget her. The next morning I would wake up sweaty, thinking for a second I could not evoke her but, when a second later I could, I would relax. I didn't want to forget her, she'd given up so much for it to be as if she'd never existed, and I could not understand why did  _she_  have to die instead of  _me_. I could've died to fulfil the quest's prophecy, and she would be alive, everybody would remember... and she and Leo would be together. He wouldn't have an even sadder gaze when he thought no one was looking at him, nor would he stare at his goggles now and then with some sort of frustration, as if they were supposed to mean something but it simply did not come to his mind. Lou soon forgot her as well, and went back to the way she used to treat me before Affie happened. I could not be happy about it, though.

His butterfly pet had followed him to camp. She would sort of stare at him (if butterflies can stare) all day, watching him do all his fixing, bending, forging, crafting, thinking and all the other things he did to build the Argo II. While watching it one spring afternoon, I thought how important could be the message she was supposed to be carrying. It was just a myth, but the insistence she kept having to stay around Leo made me think otherwise. I remembered one of the articles I'd taken from Affie's cabin to Chiron's office. I ran to the Big House and saw the painting of Eros and Psyche hanging on the wall. Suddenly it all made sense and as I finally understood why had that butterfly followed us all the way from Baltimore, and what had she been doing there in the middle of winter, I felt something sink. Maybe it was my heart. Af had never left, not completely. She was watching over Leo as she'd promised she would. And Leo had been about to  _smash_  her.

I could barely sleep that night, trying to figure out what to do of my discovery. I kept trying to find a way to make everything right and have them two be together, but it seemed so hopeless. Then, I remembered: the Golden Fleece. If it had brought back Thalia, why wouldn't bring back Affie? I felt sleepy as the idea came to me, and I fell asleep, now calm, for I knew how to make everything right again. Next morning, I woke up feeling lighter. I had breakfast with my cabinmates and realised my training without problems. I felt incredibly nice, as if I'd been carrying a terrible preoccupation for a long while and it was now gone. Now and then, though, I would visit Chiron's office and one object there always caught my attention. A painting of Eros looking at a butterfly on his arm, like he loved and admired it somehow. I wondered if it had anything to do with anyone, but Chiron assured me several times he'd bought that paint at an auction. Sometimes, I could tell he was lying; some other times, I would believe him. Any other way, I would drop the subject after that.

I wanted to know who the painter had been. I had the feeling it was a she, and I had something to tell her. Who knew, the feeling left me after a couple of days. Maybe all I wanted to tell her is that I didn't forget. Maybe all I wanted to do was to find a way to not let everything go on as if she'd never happened.


End file.
